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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24670426">From Tomorrow On, I'll Be</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/FebruarysRiver/pseuds/FebruarysRiver'>FebruarysRiver</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>From Tomorrow On [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Original Work</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Additional Warnings In Author's Note, Book Transmigration, But novel's tone is generally light, Ethical Transmigration System, Found Family, M/M, MC has social anxiety and tag-along problems, Mental Health Issues, Multiple Relationships, Other Ships Not Mentioned in Tags, Social Anxiety, Xianxia</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 05:47:33</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>34,762</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24670426</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/FebruarysRiver/pseuds/FebruarysRiver</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>《Through the Eye of the Storm》 was a novel that followed Xuan Lang, a mature and hard-working young man as he braved the cultivation world, carrying on in the righteous path with what remains of his sect as the wulin accuses them of setting ablaze their own sect. 89 chapters long, it started out as a story about keeping your heart despite everything.<br/>Then on chapter 73, the author blackened him. The author dropped the novel 16 chapters later.</p><p>Shen Jing: W-wait, what happened?!</p><p>[Assistant 51C: Welcome, Shen Jing, to the 《Together We Can Stuff Community Initiative》! It's a lie, that's not the project name. But what do you think about fixing the entire second half of this novel, eh?]</p><p>Shen Jing: But I've never written things before...</p><p>[Assistant 51C: Silly you. That's what I'm here for, your in-house editor. All you need to do... is live in there and guide them, as one of the characters!]</p><p>Shen Jing: Wait, that's even worse!</p><p>I'm terrified of talking to people!!!</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Xuan Lang/Shen Jing</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>From Tomorrow On [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1976083</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>41</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>24</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Things Poorly Thought-out</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The passing clouds were cold as mist. Tucked atop a mountain peak blanketed in evergreens was a residence— surrounded by and one with nature, its silence had a sound. The morning light was diffused, this high up— as the sky gained more and more of its brilliant blue tint, young figures trickled out of their morning class to continue on with their day.</p><p>Holding a bucket of water was a fourteen years old, expression lost as he stared off into the distance. Every now and then he broke away from his daze and took several steps forward, but would then pause again, and stilled for minutes on end. Several of the younger disciples sometimes stopped to stare— but in the end, recognizing his uniform, they didn't say anything and just moved on.</p><p>It was still early morning. Time was not to be wasted.</p><p>Yesterday, Shen Jing was a nursing student dragging himself home late at night, exhausted. This morning, he was here, on the Silver Forest Peak, mind glazed over as he stared at the gorgeous, tranquil sight of quiet green forests and trickling streams. The faded peaks further away had veiled themselves with the rolling mists, soft as they disappeared into blue silhouettes. The air stung on its way in, but the chill made him feel somewhat alive.</p><p>&lt;Assistant 51C: One thing I like about these kinda novels is the sights. Like DANG they’re still untouched nature. Real real sweet.&gt;</p><p>Shen Jing, “......”</p><p>Just several hours ago, Shen Jing awoke in a strange, cozy lounge, a woman with a smooth mask sitting across him. She was dressed all professional, a dark blue suit jacket over white blouse, navy slacks, and sat with legs crossed. “<em>Assistant 51C</em>,” she’d introduced herself, handing him a sleek, metal screen. “<em>You’ve, ah, gotten into something of a hit and run while walking back from that study session. We’re here offering you a second chance. What do you think? </em>”</p><p>“<em>What? </em>” Shen Jing had said.</p><p>&lt;Kinda generic, though, now that I think about it. But I guess generic can still be good.&gt;</p><p>“《Through the Eye of the Storm》 isn’t generic,” Shen Jing argued, eyebrows furrowed. His body jerked as he thought so, almost jostling the water in his bucket— he hurried to cover it with his arm. A wet, heavy slosh. Thankfully, not a drop spilled. “Well, I suppose settings can… It’s not the super-diverse fantasy type. But it’s still not generic…”</p><p>&lt;Yes yes, you’re its biggest fan, it’s okay. I’m just saying it’s a nice place here!&gt;</p><p>Shen Jing, “......” Q__Q</p><p>《Through the Eye of the Storm》 was a <em> xianxia </em> web novel written by Three Legged Cat, which had ended early for reasons not entirely clear. It followed Xuan Lang, the eldest disciple of the elusive Sword Saint Bai Nian, as he faced a world that insisted on vilifying him. Though it started off sounding like it was going to be a stallion novel, the author seemed to have backed away from that idea rather early. Yes. 《Through the Eye of the Storm》 ended up being about Xuan Lang’s continuing attempt to keep what was left of his family together as they faced hardship after hardship, holding onto them and hope itself. The early foreshadowed melodrama of power struggles and intrigue became grounded, gritty and whole exploration of the main cast’s dynamics instead, which Shen Jing honestly loved.</p><p>There was a major shift in tone, though, as the series went on— it got… more serious, with the updates going from three times a week to once. Some people complained, but Shen Jing himself didn’t mind; he <em> had </em> gotten quite busy with the workload of his nursing course, and he could always reread from the start. But the tipping point was chapter 73— Three Legged Cat blackened Xuan Lang, pushing him into a pit of darkness he never quite came out of.</p><p>While other readers railed against this decision, Shen Jing wrote his first comment on the novel that wasn’t the generic bomb-throwing generated message: <em> Big Cat, are you feeling okay? </em></p><p>Three Legged Cat did answer, for the first time in months.</p><p>
  <em> ‘Thank you for asking.’ </em>
</p><p>“Oi, <em> Xiao-shidi</em>, are you listening? Hellooo?”</p><p>“Wh-wha—” Shen Jing startled, straightening his back. That jostled his bucket again, shoot— this time he winced as his sleeve got hit by a slosh, backing away a few steps from the teen that had snuck up on him. Her eyebrows were raised high in amused curiosity, her lively brown eyes twinkling with hidden mischief. After grimacing a bit as he shook his partially wet sleeve, Shen Jing looked up— oh. Silver-lined pale green robes, and a cheerful disposition— this was Sword Saint Bai Nian's fourth disciple, Fang Xiaoxiao.</p><p>“Why are you spacing off ah?” Fang Xiaoxiao puffed her cheeks, hands on her hips. “Come on, let’s get moving! <em> Da-shixiong</em>’s finally back after almost a year, we need to tidy up his room before he comes back!”</p><p>Right. The start of 《Through the Eye of the Storm》 was Xuan Lang’s return to the Silver Forest Peak after 10 months being on a mysterious journey with his <em> shifu</em>. The contents of said “task” was revealed slowly over the course of the first arc, which had been fun to piece together— but it involved him helping his <em> shifu </em> find fragments of blessed metals to repair his legendary sword Qianguang. But anyway, right! When he arrived, Xuan Lang noticed that his third <em> shidi </em> He Jiangshan and Fang Xiaoxiao were a bit dusty and sweaty— they’d gone and cleaned his room in a rush, making him chuckle at their thoughtfulness.</p><p>But since Shen Jing had inserted himself as a new minor character, the fifth disciple, it seemed that He Jiangshan wasn’t here…</p><p>Hands grabbed his shoulders, and then he was pushed forward. The water— well, the water was a lost cause, as was Shen Jing's hopes of remaining dry. “Your mind wanders too much! Let’s go!”</p><p>“O-okay!”</p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>Sort of back to the beginning. In that lounge, Assistant 51C had offered him a contract: to fix up the axed 《Through the Eye of the Storm》’s messy latter half, and turn the thing into something more… thematically coherent, in exchange for another chance at life.</p><p>“I’ve never written, though,” Shen Jing said, tracing circles on the fabric of his pants, over his knee. “I’m a nursing student…”</p><p>Assistant 51C waved her hand. “Nah, don’t worry too much about that. Writing as a technical skill is one thing, but novels, stories are more than just that. Good ones have themes, messages, or at least a <em> sort </em>of point, and that’s really what separates the good ones from the… pointless ones. And hey, we saw that you love it and have written posts showing you understood the characters rather well, so we thought you’d be interested.”</p><p>On his left hand was the tablet with the contract. It wasn’t in legalese— everything was spelled out in clear, understandable language. At the very top was the first point: <em> The contractee can withdraw from the project at any time, but their compensation will be reduced appropriately in return</em>.</p><p>The second point was bolded, too. <em> The contractee is guaranteed their safety, and have irrevocable access to human resources to report abuse from any party</em>.</p><p>“But how am I supposed to achieve that?” Shen Jing asked.</p><p>Assistant 51C spread her arms wide. “Lots of ways, up to you! Some people kinda play puppet-master. Some people jump straight into the midst of it. Well, everyone does have to interact with the story in real time, they <em> live </em> in it. But they don’t always all meet the main characters and the likes. It’s up to you.”</p><p>Meeting Xuan Lang… The character Shen Jing really respected, the character who gave him strength to power through his first semester of nursing major— he really wanted it. He really wanted to.</p><p>And the reward for seeing things through was another chance at life, too. To be revived and placed at a point in time before his death…</p><p>“All right,” he said.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>“I’m starting to think we’re gonna need a map for <em> Xiao-shidi</em>,” a female voice said. An amused grunt, male. “Don’t know where he got lost, but we’ll need help finding him.”</p><p>Shen Jing blinked back to the present, squeezing the damp rag in his clutches. Right. He was wiping down the bed and its posts, because he realized that the dust would just all fly into their faces— Fang Xiaoxiao had gone to rummage for new bedcovers and pillows. But she came back with someone else…?</p><p>Shen Jing peered down; he’d been standing at the bed to reach the top of the bedposts. A young teen about sixteen was looking at him, a cheeky grin on his face. He was wearing the silver-lined direct disciple uniform of this peak, so… He couldn’t be anyone but He Jiangshan, the third disciple. Or…?</p><p>&lt;Yup. Your notes on him are in the journal, you can access it when you have the time.&gt;</p><p>“<em>Xiao-shidi </em> is amazing ba,” He Jiangshan complimented, leaning over to inspect the wooden bed. “Not even water streaks when it dries. How’d you do it?”</p><p>Shen Jing, “......”</p><p>“I just make sure to wipe the spot with a dry cloth after wiping away the dust, Third <em> Shixiong</em>,” Shen Jing explained, working to finish the last bits of this section. After this, he should go deal with the table and bookcase and then the floor. Thankfully Xuan Lang didn’t own that many things; prior to leaving he’d stored all his valuables in a wooden chest, too, so they didn’t have to deal with dusty scrolls and books. “And you should wipe them in gentle, circular motions. And not to have too much liquid on your rag. Using white vinegar helps, too. But only when diluted with a lot of water. You’ll ruin the wood otherwise.”</p><p>“...<em>Really </em> amazing,” He Jiangshan corrected. “But you don’t need to be <em> this </em> careful ba, you should go get yourself prepared soon, too, they said <em> Da-shixiong </em> is already at the bottom of the mountain.”</p><p>Shen Jing stilled. “Wait, what?”</p><p>The Mount Song Sect was a medium, but well-respected sect in the <em> wulin</em>. Situated on its eponymous Mount Song, it had six peaks and a mountain town under its protection, the latter providing food and necessities in exchange for safety and blessings. The central peak was named the Holy Tree Peak, for the thousand-year old divine tree that stood at the top, thin but tall against the blue heavens. The five other peaks were, supposedly, on equal grounds with each other: Silver Forest Peak, Blue Soul Peak, Red Autumn Peak, Hundred Fields Peak and Black Earth Peak.</p><p>Hard to really say that it was equal, though, when the Sword Saint Bai Nian was the Peak Lord of Silver Forest Peak— the Sword Saint renowned in the <em> jianghu</em>, the jade of the Sect Head’s eyes.</p><p>But the Silver Forest Peak wasn’t that big, in terms of size. Bai Nian was often away, being who he was, and he was young and new at being a teacher, too. His direct disciples were five, outer disciples about twenty— in the end, his absence left the peak rather weak, with only 19 years old Xuan Lang to lead most of the rest. Sect Elders often helped, given that he was a reliable young man and thus well-liked by many— that, and also…</p><p>Bai Nian’s second disciple was Ji Hualiu, the Sect Head’s oldest daughter.</p><p>Shen Jing was rather excited to see her. He wasn’t a fan specifically of her, but he did like her character— she was intelligent, thoughtful and powerful, with elegance and grace of someone who knew their standing in life. It was too bad, though, that she ended up dying and became Xuan Lang’s white moonlight… Shen Jing would like to see her while she was alive, and maybe if she lived, Xuan Lang wouldn’t be driven to despair as he was in the original novel.</p><p>“There he went again,” Fang Xiaoxiao whispered to He Jiangshan. “What’s really astounding is, he’s still wiping things and it’s all sparkling clean! So fast, too!”</p><p>“A rare talent,” He Jiangshan agreed, nodding. “I think <em> Da-shixiong </em> will really be pleased with his new <em> shidi</em>, <em> Shizun </em> really knows how to choose them ba.”</p><p>Shen Jing, “......” I heard that.</p><p>&lt;They’re not wrong.&gt; Was that… the sound of crispy peanuts…? &lt;Been trying to catch your attention and let you know how to access the journal for the past five minutes, but I, tragically, have been shut out…&gt;</p><p>That was definitely crispy peanuts.</p><p>&lt;Anyway, you might want to finish up soon, <em> Xiao</em>-Jing. The protagonist’s already on the—&gt;</p><p>“Where are the three of you?” A female voice called out. “<em>Da-shixiong </em> is at the gate! Even the food has been brought out!”</p><p>Fang Xiaoxiao let out a small shriek, and He Jiangshan grabbed the rags from Shen Jing’s hands and then the water bucket, too, and then they uh, vanished— jade ring? But then they both grabbed Shen Jing, one gripping each of his wrists, and started running. “Second <em> Shijie</em>! <em> Da-shixiong</em>, we’re here!”</p><p>After a stumble, Shen Jing ran following their pace, a bit dizzy— urk, they kept crashing into each other when turning round the corners. But after a minute, the thought finally dawned on him. They were really meeting Xuan Lang?</p><p>Wait, he’s not ready!</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Hello, welcome to my new casual project! I've been fiddling with the concept for a while, ie. a found family dynamic, MC who takes care of his siblings and wishes for them to grow into well-rounded individuals, and ML who takes care of them as a big brother, but over the months the details shifted. Now the MC is more... well, he's less of a daddy, you can say.</p><p>Shen Jing has honest to goodness Social Anxiety TM. No, not shyness. No, not introversion. Agoraphobie und Panikstörung, ICD code F40.01G, if you go by German diagnosis. So for this reason I will NOT tolerate comments dismissing or making fun of it, or referring to it as cowardice. Of course he also has other problems, but I cannot stress enough that I will not tolerate any dismissal of social anxiety.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Xuan Lang</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>“O-oh. Did you… Did you eat well and on time?”</p><p>Silence.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The main courtyard of the Silver Forest Peak was both where they received guests and where they had morning and evening classes. Simple in design and structure, it seemed so natural as to blend with its surroundings, the flat-topped pine trees that grew around it providing shade. In the distance, muted sounds of people running in tandem grew ever more faint— it was time for the outer disciples to have their morning run, before they continued on with learning their stances.</p><p>Meanwhile, the close-by chaos of three direct disciples running around and smacking into walls only grew ever louder.</p><p>“What are you two even doing?” Ji Hualiu scolded, eyebrows furrowed. Shen Jing looked up and was— was a bit dazed, because uh. Oh. She was really pretty, with an elegant bearing even though she was no more than 17 and scolding them. And also carrying a tray of bamboo steamers. “And dragging <em> Xiao-shidi </em> along with your shenanigans, too. I can see he did all the work. Help him dry up, before <em> Da-shi</em>—”</p><p>“Before I…?”</p><p>A low, but firm voice— they all turned to the sound, and then—</p><p>“<em>Da-shixiong</em>?”</p><p>“You’re back!”</p><p>Shen Jing stared, wide-eyed, mute.</p><p>Xuan Lang was 19, the same age as Shen Jing (not in this body!), but the difference, they might as well be talking about different species. This current body of Shen Jing was of himself, but 5 years younger; he was small, timid, and wide-eyed, a bit like a particularly terrified mouse hiding in a kitchen cupboard. Xuan Lang, on the other hand, was tall and sturdy as an evergreen tree, with eyes as sharp as a wolf's and carrying a hint of that cold winter color. His facial features made him look serious, but there was a kind light in his eyes, or perhaps a happy one— under his sweeping gaze Shen Jing couldn’t help but avert his face, but he always strayed back to steal another glance.</p><p>Like any other protagonist, he looked self-indulgently handsome, with a well-proportioned body and soft-looking hair. But more striking to Shen Jing was the fact that though he was— well… he was a prodigy and could've been anyone he wanted to be, the way his mouth twitched while looking at Fang Xiaoxiao and He Jiangshan exposed how genuinely happy he was to see them again.</p><p>It was a look that Shen Jing sometimes wished was ever directed to him, but seeing it aimed at someone else was heartwarming too— despite the power-based hierarchy of a world such as this, home and loving families fond of each other wasn't both the joke and the punchline.</p><p>Given the length of his trip, Xuan Lang had to resort to clothes other than his few pairs of sect uniforms. But dark blue looked good on him. He looked handsome, heroic, reliable.</p><p>"And this <em> xiao-shidi </em>is…?" Xuan Lang looked half apologetic. "I'm sorry. It has been so long, and I've only met you once."</p><p>The meeting was on the day he left with his <em> shizun, </em> too, for less than 5 minutes; that was the origin story Shen Jing and Assistant 51C came up with. Bai Nian accidentally saw him, took him in as a direct disciple, then left with Xuan Lang in the span of one morning. He and 51-<em>jie </em> hadn't even come up with a reason why.</p><p>"It's okay," Shen Jing murmured. His gaze darted around, and spotted the grass behind Xuan Lang. They had tiny wildflowers, or maybe it was some kind of weed. "It was months ago. My name is Shen Jing. Please take good care of me."</p><p>Shen Jing wished a worm the size of an elevator shaft would bust through the ground and eat him. Who was he even, to say this to the protagonist… He already had a family, namely his three younger martial siblings. Shen Jing really chose the wrong identity. Could he change it?</p><p>&lt;Yeah, though I'd say stick this one out for a bit. You should at least give it an honest try.&gt;</p><p>...He just felt guilty. He had no place here.</p><p>"<em>Xiao-shidi </em> spaces off every now and then, but he's hardworking and diligent," Fang Xiaoxiao reassured, patting Shen Jing's shoulder. "If <em> Da-shixiong </em> has a map, though, maybe it might let us fetch him from wherever it is he's gone."</p><p>Fire crackled under his skin, spreading from his cheeks— mortified, Shen Jing lowered his head, taking a step back.</p><p>"...Don't bully him," Xuan Lang sighed. "Let's go inside."</p><p>"N-no, Fourth <em> Shijie </em> didn't bully me…" The teasing embarrassed him, but it wasn’t Fang Xiaoxiao’s fault. He just had… problems. No one was at fault. It was Shen Jing who had an illness.</p><p>&lt;Social anxiety?&gt;</p><p>"I always feel guilty for being there."</p><p>&lt;Oof. Let me know if you need a counselor. We cover mental health in the insurance plan.&gt;</p><p>"'Sokay. I just really need to get out of here."</p><p>"<em>Xiao-shidi</em>, your hands are so cold and clammy," Fang Xiaoxiao said, astonished. "What even happened? Was it because I teased you?"</p><p>"It happens sometimes," Shen Jing mumbled. When a feeble attempt to tug his hand away from the grip of the later sword-prodigy Fang Xiaoxiao didn't work, he let her rub and mush her hands all over his. "Fourth <em> Shijie</em>, let's go…"</p><p>"Go," Xuan Lang said. It only took a look, but Fang Xiaoxiao and He Jiangshan rushed ahead, leaving Shen Jing behind with him. Then, after an awkward silence, Shen Jing scurried forward, only to pause at Xuan Lang's voice, low and unheard by anyone else. "Are you scared of me?"</p><p>Shen Jing shook his head so hard his topknot smacked against the sides of his skull. "No! Never. I'm just… really nervous, I'm so sorry. I'll do better."</p><p>Terrified, maybe, but never at Xuan Lang. After all, Shen Jing really felt he understood his character and his thoughts, having read and reread so many times— he was hardly an unreasonable man, even when angry. Anyway, if Xuan Lang was a bit harsh later on in the story, Shen Jing would understand too. Stress could get to anyone. Shen Jing had been really stressed these past few months, so he empathized with any outbursts anyone might have.</p><p>Another silence, then a feather-light touch on his upper back. "Let's go, before the food gets cold."</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>It being mid-morning, only Xuan Lang was eating a full meal— the others poked the cages of dimsum, with Ji Hualiu drinking tea and accepting the occasional snack offered to her by Fang Xiaoxiao. Shen Jing munched on the small <em> baozi</em>, too, trying not to stare at Xuan Lang by way of staring at his tea instead. The tea was light in shade, its taste crisp, with a somewhat sharp and dry aftertaste. Really satisfying, though Shen Jing liked the ones with the sweet aftertaste more.</p><p>&lt;Green teas taste different? Not gonna lie, I drink them a bunch, but I don’t really notice that kinda stuff.&gt;</p><p>“It’s subtle, that’s true. But some of them have pretty noticeable taste.”</p><p>&lt;Huh. I’ll take your word for it, then.&gt;</p><p>“<em>Xiao-shidi</em>, eat more ba,” He Jiangshan said, clipping over some dumplings for him. “You’re so small, you won’t even need <em> qinggong </em> to run around.”</p><p>Fang Xiaoxiao joined him, this time placing twisted fried doughs and soymilk in front of his plate. “Quick, before <em> Shizun </em> notices.”</p><p>Shen Jing, “......” Does <em> Shizun </em> not like his disciples eating a lot?</p><p>“He won’t think we starved <em> Xiao-shidi</em>, the two of you knock it off,” Ji Hualiu said. Her voice was authoritative, carrying across the area even though it hadn't gone louder than a casual conversation. “You’re making him uncomfortable.”</p><p>She’s really cool, Shen Jing thought. She had a calm but firm aura to her, it made him think of his aunt, who was a career woman who continued to support her sister, his mother, despite everything. Shen Jing lived with her for five years. The difference might be that Ji Hualiu was a cultivator, and his aunt not— okay, that was a stupid train of thought, of course his aunt wasn’t a cultivator. But the different upbringings gave them different bearings, and while his aunt exuded a confident and focused air, Ji Hualiu was more graceful, her movements flowing and purposeful.</p><p>Out of them all, Shen Jing was the least familiar with Ji Hualiu. It wasn’t because she didn’t have a well-established character. She had a lot of on-screen appearances early on, being Xuan Lang’s love interest, but it got kind of awkward how much Shen Jing found himself understanding her actions in terms of what his aunt or mother would do, so there might’ve been a little… unwillingness, he supposed.</p><p>“<em>Xiao-shidi</em>,” He Jiangshan sing-songed. “Hey, come on, stay with us. Don’t you have questions to ask <em> Da-shixiong</em>?”</p><p>Shen Jing glanced at Xuan Lang, then froze. Oh no, they made eye-contact, he couldn’t get out of this. Xuan Lang, for his part, was done with breakfast and was sipping the tea quickly, chugging back some soymilk afterwards. Staring back at Shen Jing, he raised his eyebrow, just this subtlest little gesture.</p><p>“O-oh. Did you… Did you eat well and on time?”</p><p>Silence.</p><p>Oh no, that was weird, wasn’t it? Shen Jing often asked that of his mother, given that he had no idea what else to ask during the years she was on her residency. Yes, Shen Jing’s mother, Shen Wenzhu, was a doctor. Unbelievably busy, Shen Jing didn’t like to ask her how her day went, given how bad some of them got, so he turned to asking her if she was okay instead.</p><p>She always gave him this dim but sincere smile, telling him that she still liked his cooking better.</p><p>“I ate just fine,” Xuan Lang answered, a small smile on his face. “Not as well as at home, of course. We stayed mostly in remote areas.”</p><p>Shen Jing let out a relieved sigh inside. At least he wasn’t misunderstood...</p><p>“What <em> was Shizun </em> looking for?” Fang Xiaoxiao asked, curious. “Can you even tell us what?”</p><p>Xuan Lang thought about it. “Several things. One was Fallen Star metal. The other was <em> Mushen</em>’s white tree.”</p><p>Fallen Star metal was, of course, the remnants of an asteroid. Or was it meteorite? Shen Jing wasn’t a big space guy. But its metal was what Bai Nian was intending to reforge his legendary Qianguang with. It always struck Shen Jing odd that Qianguang was what he was remembered by and yet the sword was, well, in need of repairs, but then later on it was revealed that it broke during a confrontation with an old demonic faction nemesis… Bai Nian got too little spotlight, Shen Jing felt, during the first arc of the story. By the time the second arc rolled around, the matters of the Mount Song Sect era were all but buried with its rubbles.</p><p><em> Mushen</em>’s white tree… Wait, what? When did Bai Nian need <em> Mushen</em>’s white tree? The wood god’s birch was a divine tree that grew in the most impossible of places, a symbol of defiance of life in the face of certain death. It being so, its growth was linked with <em> Mushen </em> themselves, and thus they all held incredible powers. Still, unless he wanted to make the world’s most powerful wooden sword, there was no reason for Bai Nian to need it?</p><p>“How about all of you? Training well, haven’t you?”</p><p>Shen Jing blinked as Fang Xiaoxiao and He Jiangshan hurried to reassure Xuan Lang about theirs— oh, shoot, he didn’t think about that?</p><p>&lt;It’s fine. You’re doing fine, diligently training, you’re in early-stage Qi Condensation now, not that far behind Fang Xiaoxiao. Except you haven’t received direct guidance from your <em> shizun</em>, so your progress is also slower.&gt;</p><p>Oh, thank you, 51-<em>jie</em>. He couldn’t even think of the stages off the top of his head, this saved him.</p><p>“I’m… practicing,” Shen Jing said. “Just…”</p><p>“You haven’t gotten directions from <em> Shizun</em>, I know,” Xuan Lang said. Pushing himself up, he nodded at everyone to stand, too. “Let’s go to the courtyard. Let me see how much you’ve progressed in the past year.”</p><p>And so they all moved on to the inner courtyard, where there was enough space to practice. Unlike the front one where they would eat, this one was bare, no rockeries or small trees placed for <em> fengshui. </em>Now that the sun was slipping higher to the sky, they could hear the sounds of helpers going around doing chores and preparing for their lunch— Shen Jing's eyes strayed to the sides, where a middle aged man was walking back to the kitchens, a tall stack of dimsum cages in his hands, obscuring his vision. Their late breakfast feast.</p><p>"<em>Xiao-shidi</em>."</p><p>Shen Jing jumped. "Y-yes! Sorry!"</p><p>Xuan Lang gave a tiny shake of a head, then gestured him forward. “You should’ve paid attention to when your <em> shijie </em> and <em> shixiong </em> were up, they had insights you could’ve learnt from. Come here.”</p><p>Feeling ice grip his heart, Shen Jing shuffled forward. Once he was close enough, Xuan Lang only placed his hand on Shen Jing’s head and closed his eyes. Silence. Outside the compound, someone was sweeping the ground, the sound dry and grating.</p><p>“You’re progressing well,” Xuan Lang said, opening his eyes. “But you have a lot of worries. You’re too young to have this many. If you carry it for too long, it might become internal demons and lead you down to <em> Qi </em> deviation. Otherwise, you’re doing well.”</p><p>Shen Jing lowered his head. “Thank you for the guidance, <em> Da-shixiong</em>.”</p><p>To the side, Ji Hualiu had been studying Xuan Lang for a while. Head tilted and eyes slightly narrowed, she asked, “<em>Da-shixiong</em>, have you… broken through…?”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Getting Started on Cultivation!</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>A quiet murmur. “Why do you always panic around me?”</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Ji Hualiu was a talent in her own right, and was only a bit behind Xuan Lang in terms of cultivation. It was easy to see why she was the first to notice anything. Xuan Lang let out the tiniest of smiles and withdrew his sword, Bishan, and stepped back from the group, flowing straight into a set of movements Bai Nian would be known for. It was beautiful, and a shiver ran down Shen Jing’s spine whenever Xuan Lang slipped into <a id="return1" name="return1"></a>a <em> fajin </em><sup>[<a href="#note1">1</a>]</sup> move as his <em> qi </em> pressed down upon them.</p><p>His hair wasn’t even out of place when he was done.</p><p>“Mm. Foundation Establishment now.”</p><p>“Whoa!” He Jiangshan said, eyes wide. “<em>Da-shixiong </em> really is the best!”</p><p>It had to be said, most of the better cultivators broke past the Qi Condensation stage in their early to mid 20’s. Of course, a prodigy like Bai Nian broke it an even earlier age. But still, 19 was far from unimpressive— especially given that Ji Hualiu was still in the late-stage Qi Condensation, and when he left last year, he was, too.</p><p>That meant he went into peak-stage and had a breakthrough in less than a year.</p><p>“I had help,” Xuan Lang said, shaking his head. “We found an area with abundant <em> qi</em>. <em> Shizun </em> was there to guide me, as well.”</p><p>“Speaking of which, did <em> Shizun </em> say when he’s coming back?” Ji Hualiu asked. “Did he have something else to do?”</p><p>Xuan Lang shrugged. “I think so. We split up a month ago because he took another route, but he didn’t explain much to me other than that he wanted to meet up with an old acquaintance before returning. He did ask me to pass it on to you all that he will be back several days after I arrive, though.”</p><p>Shen Jing blinked. Split up that early? He did remember that Bai Nian went to drop off Qianguang to a famed blacksmith with the metals they got, but later chapters went over the route Xuan Lang took to return, and a month ago meant they were still pretty far in the middle of nowhere. The wilderness of a dangerous mountain range extending approximately hundreds of kilometers kind of nowhere. Why would he split up there? Xuan Lang would have to make the final stretch out of that region alone, wasn’t that too dangerous?</p><p>Ji Hualiu sighed. “Then I’ll let Father know.”</p><p>Sect Master Ji Qiaofeng had always favored Bai Nian. Though Bai Nian was not a disciple in Mount Song Sect and was raised by an unknown <em> shifu</em>, when he joined Ji Qiaofeng immediately made him the rank of Elder, despite the man being no older than forty. Furthermore, he even allowed him to not take in disciples quite yet. Silver Forest Peak was reserved for him; the moment the previous Peak Lord retired Bai Nian was conferred the title, and allowed to pick an entire new batch of disciples. It was the sort of blatant favoritism that made the famously cold Bai Nian awkward, but he’d never voiced his feelings to anyone bar Xuan Lang.</p><p>Everyone had always expected Xuan Lang to marry his daughter, and had found the protagonist a suitable match for her. As such, he would often show that favoritism, too, coupled with parental scolding whenever the topic wandered to cultivation partners.</p><p>“<em>Da-Shixiong</em>, did you not bring anything back from your trip?” He Jiangshan asked, eyes sparkling. “Show us, pretty please?”</p><p>In the story, He Jiangshan ended up showing an aptitude for mechanics and creativity. The problem was that he wasn’t that quick on his feet, meaning that he would be defenseless for a good moment during battles that required immediate action— but that was why he and Fang Xiaoxiao were a wonder-duo. She would cover for him as he gathered his bearings and get down to work. This rather surprising talent of his started out with his curiosity towards exotic items Xuan Lang and Bai Nian brought back. As such, he often hounded them for <em> anything </em> weird or interesting from their travels.</p><p>“Let’s sit down first,” Xuan Lang conceded. The group all moved, then, to where they could sit down on the raised wooden floor. When they glanced back, though, they realized that one of them was missing.</p><p>Shen Jing gave a hesitant smile, taking a step back. “I think I’ll… Please excuse me.”</p><p>“You’ll what…?”</p><p>But he already disappeared.</p><p>Fang Xiaoxiao, “???”</p><p>“Wow. When I said<em> Xiao-shidi </em> could do <em> qinggong </em> through just his small stature, I was mostly joking. But turns out he— ouch! <em> Da-shixiong</em>, sorry!”</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>&lt;I don’t know man, looks pretty bad to me. You sure you don’t want counseling? It’s free and all, you just need to talk with them for an hour every week or two, if you want they’ll even give you meds. Or homework. If you’re into that sort of thing.&gt;</p><p>Scrubbing the dishes within an inch of their lives, Shen Jing shook his head. “No, it’s still manageable, I’ll tell you when I need it, <em> Wu-jie</em>.”</p><p>&lt;Okie dokie then.&gt;</p><p>It was going to be lunchtime, and Shen Jing had gone to wash up the things from the late morning feast in record time. He had a lot of experience in cleaning the house, after all, given his upbringing, and when he left, he didn’t notice the baffled looks of the helpers from the town at the foot of the mountain.</p><p>“<em>Wu-jie</em>, can you help me get the schedule of the people living here, as well as the general plot? I don’t want to miss anything.”</p><p>&lt;No problem. I’ve got the schedule right now, if you want, but give me a couple of hours to turn the text into bullet-points of events. Do you want the upcoming stuff first?&gt;</p><p>“Upcoming stuff?”</p><p>Shen Jing had gone further into the surrounding forests and found himself a nice spot overlooking a cliff. A pine tree had broken through the rocks and grew on the cliffside. When Shen Jing peered to look at the base of the mountains, he could see a wispy river weaving its way between the peaks, appearing and ebbing with the rolling mists.</p><p>Letting out a long, controlled exhale, Shen Jing closed his eyes and felt the movements and techniques Assistant 51C had inserted into his mind— the Silver Forest Peak’s basic moves.</p><p>Having grown up in an often empty house and having a lot of alone time, Shen Jing was actually familiar with meditation— it helped calm him down, and was especially helpful for his anxiety. But <em> qigong</em>… He’d never done that. So he let Assistant 51C help him with that, familiarizing his new body with it, then took over to feel the movements and internalize them more.</p><p>It was kind of weird, now that he thought about it. Assistant 51C actually implanting memories into his brain…</p><p>&lt;Isn’t it? Pretty cool, in concept. I can see why it’s creepy in retrospect, though. Or in introspect…? That’s not how you use the word introspect. But yeah, it’s kind of creepy, but it’s a shortcut. You don’t need to worry too much about the cultivation stuff if you don’t feel like it. Gets kinda boring, no?&gt;</p><p>Her words, just like his thoughts, flowed through untouched.</p><p>Assistant 51C, &lt;......&gt; Hurt. I’m hurt.</p><p>Clouds covered the sky into a flat white, the breeze carded their gentle fingers through Shen Jing's hair. Feeling the faint, imperceptible movement within him, he let his mind sink back into that space, like the susurrus of water drowning out everything when he held his breath underwater.</p><p>Time melted.</p><p>&lt;Hey, you there? It’s gonna be lunchtime soon, so if you don’t wanna…&gt;</p><p>Assistant 51C's voice was soft, almost uncharacteristically so. Taking a deep breath, Shen Jing resurfaced, opening his eyes. At first, the brightness— what had been a white sheet felt more like a mirror blinding him. But his eyes readjusted, after several moments. Rubbing his eyes, he also shook the haze out of his head.</p><p>“Shen Jing.”</p><p>Shen Jing whipped around, hand to his heart, taking a stuttered leap back. Shoot, that— terrified him more than it should’ve. Standing atop his sword with eyebrows furrowed was Xuan Lang, hovering just centimeters above the ground; it was with a graceful step that he got off his sword, and Bishan flew back into its sheath. “You really cannot continue being this easily startled. It will cause problems later.”</p><p>Oh no. This was like… the first morning he interacted with the protagonist, and yet it's the third time he… well, Xuan Lang made a good point, except that Shen Jing also couldn't… just change like that.</p><p>His cheeks burned. Shen Jing wanted to die. “I understand, <em> Da-shixiong</em>.”</p><p>Shame and embarrassment wasn’t an emotion just felt by the face. It spread to the brain, too, the sensation akin to a white noise, to the hum of a CPU overworked for too long. His ears felt like it buzzed, hovering just below the point of tinnitus. The tightness in his chest. The all-encompassing dread— it really was overwhelming, and just—</p><p>A palm gently lied on the back of his neck. A quiet murmur. “Why do you always panic around me?”</p><p>Shen Jing wanted to cry.</p><p>&lt;Whoa whoa okay, kiddo, do you need a time-out? You’re sounding like you’re gonna have a bit of a meltdown, I’ll get you out of there, yeah?&gt;</p><p>But then Shen Jing took in a deep breath, held it in, and let it out. Though his hands were still trembling, the rest of his body had— not stopped, but lessened, its stress response. Another deep breath and he could force himself to walk again, head firmly lowered. His limbs felt cold, his hands not quite made of flesh and skin, but if he didn’t think about it, he wouldn’t end up in tears. Yeah, just think about something else… This story, for one.</p><p>A small sigh, then Xuan Lang followed, needing only a few steps to fall in line with him as they headed back to the compound.</p><p>With the distance and lack of follow-up comments, Shen Jing found himself calming down a bit. The apprehension came back when he started hearing all the chattering in the house, but he forced himself to ignore the coiling knot in his stomach, tensing his shoulders— he’d eaten in cafeterias before, had gone through that ordeal without a panic attack, he could do this… Cafeterias were both the worst and okay-ish; if he could find a corner he was often all right, but when he couldn’t, he would be setting university record for how fast someone could eat a bowl of rice. Sometimes a classmate would ask him if he was trying to outpace “that starving dumbass genius” from IT. Sometimes that made Shen Jing wonder if he could skip lunch out of a deep sense of shame.</p><p>But no. Here lunch felt more like a classroom than cafeteria— perhaps it was the number of people, perhaps it was the fact that they were just sort of… looking at each other. All twenty four of them. Shen Jing thought he'd be more terrified, but most of the outer disciples were young and busy among themselves, while he was sitting on the edge next to Fang Xiaoxiao— they sat next to each other in the order of seniority, which was. A boon.</p><p>Fang Xiaoxiao and He Jiangshan were whispering to each other, of course, but at least Shen Jing didn't get dragged in.</p><p>&lt;How exactly did you survive like this? That's really tough.&gt;</p><p>"Survive like…?"</p><p>&lt;Like do you just block it out for years or? Anyway, here check the schedule, as well as the first two chapters again. The protagonist is going to be pretty idle for the next few days, 'til <em> Shizun </em> comes home. We can use the time to go over the plot and see improvement areas and draft out a plan.&gt;</p><p>The schedule was— okay, Shen Jing understood now why Assistant 51C had been trying to get him to check out the journal. It had several display formats, like notebook or online encyclopedia, and it had a robust search system. He had most of the named cast, too, in profiles; the rest said that data extraction was in progress. But most relevant was the calendar menu, where he could check what anyone is doing at any given time— provided, of course, the novel talked about it. And the most important person had his schedule pretty well laid out, given the fact well… he was the POV character too.</p><p>Though the novel timeskipped to a few days later, it did mention that Xuan Lang did his daily routines upon returning. And his daily routine was described around 10 chapters later, so his schedule was neatly penned out by the hour on the calendar, just like that.</p><p>&lt;Don't you love it? I'm not even a writer by profession but man I love this system. You can even go back and sift through the items in the novel once they finish importing the data.&gt;</p><p>“It’s beautiful,” Shen Jing admitted. More beautiful than his biochem notes. He bought a pastel blue highlighter for that, to make it tidier and more comprehensible at first glance.</p><p>&lt;Okay, lunch over soon, go pay attention before you get teased again.&gt;</p><p>"Thank you, <em> Wu-jie</em>!" Q__Q He really couldn't handle another teasing today, his heart was getting sore from all the stress.</p><p>And sure enough, not long after Shen Jing finished his food and sipped some tea to wash it down, everyone started getting to their feet, tray in hand. Organized, they left one by one, leaving only the direct disciples lingering inside, still chatting. </p><p>"<em>Xiao-shidi</em>, do you want to come with us to town?” He Jiangshan asked, slinging his arm around Shen Jing’s shoulders. “It’s okay because <em> Da-shixiong </em> will be coming with us.”</p><p>"Who said I'm going down to town?" Xuan Lang asked, voice dry. "I just passed it by. I'm going to my room."</p><p>"<em>Da-shixiong </em> should rest up," Shen Jing said, nodding. </p><p>He Jiangshan pouted. “But what about you?”</p><p>Err… Shen Jing scratched his cheek. “Sorry Third <em> Shixiong</em>, I think… I think I’ll go meditate this afternoon… <em> Shizun</em>…”</p><p>“<em>Shizun </em> won’t mind, I betchu,” He Jiangshan said, poking Shen Jing’s other cheek. “He—”</p><p>“Would,” Xuan Lang finished.</p><p>“You might want to just settle with Xiaoxiao before your town visit pass gets revoked,” Ji Hualiu said from the other end of the room, voice dry. He Jiangshan and Fang Xiaoxiao exchanged a look and booked it.</p><p>&lt;Cultivator teens are pretty fast.&gt; Assistant 51C sounded impressed.</p><p>Before Xuan Lang and Ji Hualiu turned away from the door He Jiangshan and Fang Xiaoxiao left through, Shen Jing, too, booked it.</p><p>&lt;......&gt; But clearly her family’s host was faster when he’s running away from social interactions.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p><a id="note1" name="note1"></a><sup>[1]</sup> <b>fajin</b>: In taijiquan, fajin refers to a sudden release of energy obtained by the coordinated movement of the entire body and by transferring qi from the dantian. [<a href="#return1">back</a>]</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Planning Things and Stuff</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>After all, if he had a history, motivations and his own thoughts and feelings, wouldn’t he want anyone and everyone to treat him that way? To not have his humanity doubted?</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Days did pass, even when they felt like a string of dough stretching on to forever. After a long and twitchy afternoon, dinner came and passed and at last he was free to return to his bedroom, which he thankfully did not have to share with anyone. The outer disciples <em> did </em> have shared bedrooms, four people each— if Shen Jing was part of the story before he became an inner disciple, he probably had to live out <em> living </em> with four kids about his age, which was a bit nerve-wracking, but gods above did have mercy at times.</p><p>&lt;You’re welcome.&gt;</p><p>“You’re better than them, <em> Wu-jie</em>,” Shen Jing earnestly said. “You’re here making things happen.”</p><p>&lt;Aww, apology accepted.&gt;</p><p>The room wasn’t too different from Xuan Lang’s, which made sense; the head disciple’s room was bigger, though, and had more distance from the rest. As it was, Shen Jing could still hear He Jiangshan and Fang Xiaoxiao sparring in the shared courtyard, as well as Ji Hualiu’s occasional comments. Xuan Lang’s voice was missing. But anyhow, inside was a simple room, made even simpler by the fact that Shen Jing had nothing to decorate it with— there was only a bed, a limitless-space chest, a writing table with its four treasures and a partition, presumably for when he wanted to take a bath. Or change clothes…? Or hide from the world. It wouldn’t be very good hiding, but he could make do if he was cornered.</p><p>Lying down on his bed, Shen Jing stared at the ceiling for a moment before turning to Assistant 51C. "<em>Wu-jie</em>, can I get a fluffy, soft pillow?"</p><p>&lt;Sure. One sec.&gt;</p><p>And then one popped in the air, falling straight into his arms. Shen Jing nuzzled it with his cheek and felt the tension drain out of his body.</p><p>"Thank you very much. Okay, so Xuan Lang. He definitely shouldn't have blackened, and his story should be about what's most important, not about being the lone king on the hill."</p><p>All in all, the novel up to its last chapter could be divided into 3 general arcs: the Mount Song Sect arc, the Finding a New Home arc, and the last one the Dark Wolfdog Mystery, which also encompassed the blackening. Due to its abrupt nature, a lot of the leftover plot threads from that third arc remained, so Big Cat spent a solid 10 chapters after the blackening to resolving those. In the end, Big Cat ended the novel 6 chapters later. Though many readers didn’t doubt that the reasons were personal and involved life circumstances, some posited that the mysteries all being answered made her lose interest, too, and she dropped it like a burning plastic spatula.</p><p>&lt;So you're gonna focus on chapter 73 onwards? Earlier chapters could use a bit more substance, though. Big Cat hadn't developed the reasons why the sect got burned down that well early on, and I'm seeing some comments saying it's too implausible.&gt;</p><p>Huh. They weren't wrong. This was, after all, an entire sect.</p><p>"I remember that it might've been related to Lang-<em>ge</em>'s father… didn't they just insert that corrupted wolf, in the end, as the culprit?"</p><p>That was <em> weird</em>. Not the presence of a giant wolf— this was a full out fantasy, and beasts were common. But the problem was… well, there was this yet unnamed dark wolf that had been implied to have come from the underworld, or <em> something </em>— the mystery was very much unfinished, and one thing Big Cat emphasized was that information gathered wasn't always the truth. But it was also implied that the wolf had been under Xuan Lang's father's control in the past, and that it had been looking for Xuan Lang. But when it arrived at Mount Song the young man was missing, having gone out on a task with the rest of his martial siblings. Mount Song Sect tried to subdue the beast, but it was too strong and killed them instead. Ji Hualiu survived the attack, but died after Xuan Lang made it back.</p><p>The bits that people said they wanted more details on was the wolf itself, as it seemed to have come out of nowhere and just ended an entire sect. What sort of creature could be that powerful and yet nobody had heard of it? Some others replied, though, that this was a fantasy and Big Cat was well within her rights to introduce a beast that wasn’t in mythology, given that any animal could cultivate and become a <em> yao </em> — but that was not a discussion Shen Jing was interested in having. It was clear to him that the wolf was intended to be Xuan Lang’s counterpart; the possible relation to his father, who had abandoned Xuan Lang at birth, the fact that it was a <em> dark-colored wolf</em>, and its ambiguous morality. All of these points mirrored Xuan Lang, and the fact that the blackening and ending involved him meeting the wolf head on and just killing it felt… like a butcher job.</p><p>&lt;Author never delved into it too deep honestly, it's free real estate if you want to change the details.&gt;</p><p>Shen Jing: ???</p><p>"Free real estate?"</p><p>&lt;Oh. It's a foreign meme I guess.&gt;</p><p>Oh. Okay, then.</p><p>Shen Jing mulled over it after some time. He wanted to keep the parallel thing, and keep it as the central source of conflicts and dynamics. The wolfdog could have its own circle of loyal friends, too— a wolf lives in a pack, after all. Murder of its pack members could lead it to more and more murderous fury. But while the wolf gave into that nihilism and wished for the end of the world, Xuan Lang could, in some way, somehow, keep holding onto hope. Even though many people betrayed and hated him, he could never end a world that also had people who loved him, and that had people he loved as well, bittersweet as those memories were. It could very well be a bittersweet ending. But a story whose message was one where ultimately a world was alive <em> enough </em> that the wishes and lives of people other than the main character’s would justify its continued existence… Shen Jing liked that kind of story.</p><p>How much value <em> can </em> one human life hold? We are so tiny and insignificant.</p><p>Pulling it off was another beast in its entirety, though, which was his next problem. It was hard enough to put together a plot that worked and had meaning. What about getting all the pieces to move into place? He wasn’t exactly good at lying. Not to mention, there was the matter of natural mannerisms and making it not stilted...</p><p>"I don't think it's a good idea to… change the plot directly…? I'm… bad at convincing people. Would it be possible to just change the background things so that people react accordingly…? You only gave me my cultivation base at that moment, right?"</p><p>&lt;It's a viable way, but you'll still need to nudge them into it. Anyhow, you'll also have to listen by ear the events and world building. When we change something so fundamental as someone's backstory, it tends to have a domino effect. So you'll want to continue to nudge the cast around in case they miss out on something big.&gt;</p><p>Shen Jing scratched his cheek. "That's true. I can't really imagine where things might go yet, though… I don't know how the world will develop. Will the, uh, system help with everyone’s characterizations?"</p><p>&lt;The algorithm that generates this world is version 133.8.1, adjusted over the course of a long ass time and approximately 2 million worlds. It's gotten pretty good at extrapolating backstory and motivation from minor characters and villains. It does, however, generate the less important characters sort of on the go at first. So they might not have… fleshed out personalities until you interact with them, so to speak.&gt;</p><p>"Does this mean there could be someone suddenly developing a hatred for Lang-<em>ge </em> out of nowhere <em> only </em>after they met him?" Shen Jing asked, head tilting.</p><p>&lt;Eeh, only if they have a reason to in their backstory? Like some random villager won't suddenly call for his death unless the backstory says he's killed their family or something. And when their entire characterization and backstory fully generate, it’ll inform other characters as well and they’ll treat things like it makes sense for them to act that way.&gt;</p><p>Ooh. That made sense. That was pretty neat… "Can the system detect something that readers might not, then?"</p><p>&lt;Like interpret and develop it differently? Oh yeah, definitely. Happened once with this guy, he was playing up a minor villain and well… you see, because the novel was a pretty traditional <em> danmei, </em>the algorithm kinda assumed that this other minor villain had this secret love for him and it spiralled out into something preeetty hilarious. It derailed the entire story into like a tumultuous love rectangle and the contractee almost asked for a total restart.&gt;</p><p>Shen Jing: ??!</p><p>"Almost?"</p><p>&lt;Well, he liked this other character too much to bear actually restarting… he got together with a third guy instead and afaik he's still there, just living out the rest of his years. He renounced going back and settled on sending to his family a sum to pay for the costs of his hospitalization and funeral.&gt;</p><p>"Wait. That's possible?"</p><p>&lt;Yups. It used to just be that they get to go back to their lives, but after a change in directors they added in other options, since a lot of contractees expressed a desire to stay. Not to mention, we have a bunch of people who've had pretty rough, if not traumatic lives back in their worlds and don't wanna return and pick themselves back up.&gt;</p><p>Huh… Shen Jing stared at the ceiling, contemplative. </p><p>"I suppose for now we'll just finalize the bits about the wolfdog?" Shen Jing asked, nuzzling his pillow with his nose. His next words came out muffled as he buried his face into it, relishing in its softness. "It's really Lang-<em>ge</em>'s father's… pet…? Or at least owed him its life. But I don't think it's purely bad. Maybe it was just dealt a bad hand, and continued to be seen as the villain, but held onto repaying Lang-<em>ge</em>'s father's kindness, but was instead… attacked…"</p><p>&lt;So, Xuan Lang's parallel?&gt;</p><p>Shen Jing's vision doubled as they unfocused. "Mm."</p><p>&lt;What about the character deaths? This isn’t going to be a white moonlight case thing, right? Since you’re deciding on that other course. Which is great, by the way. I think white moonlight stuff is shit. I had an ex a long ass time ago. Guy can’t hold a candle to my girlfriend now, she’s so amazing and beautiful and smart. And that poor ex was my good childhood friend, so it wasn’t exactly like I hate him or anything.&gt;</p><p>Shen Jing, “???” He’s back to full wakefulness now, and out of pure confusion.</p><p>“Huh?”</p><p>&lt;I’m scrolling through author’s blogs right now. My opinion? Ji Hualiu doesn’t need to die. What was the point of her death anyway? She just died to be tragic. I think your Lang-<em>ge </em> only pined for her like… 7 times over the course of like 46 chapters. What kind of white moonlight is that, huh? I call bullshit.&gt;</p><p>Shen Jing, “......” <em> Wu-jie</em>, your opinions are so strong…</p><p>“Can we put this one off to when the plot develops more? I don’t know if Second <em>Shijie</em> would, uh, die, mmm… oh, the wording on this is bad. But if she… You know.”</p><p>Assistant 51C, &lt;......&gt; She doesn’t, actually.</p><p>“If there’s an understandable reason why she would sacrifice herself, I mean,” Shen Jing said. “Then I think we shouldn’t disrespect her… wishes? Sacrifice? These wordings are so bad when I’m applying it to real people.”</p><p>And they <em> were </em> real, as far as Shen Jing was concerned— he’d interacted with them and they had lives and existences outside of his own, and thus even if they were generated by a system, they were real. After all, if he had a history, motivations and his own thoughts and feelings, wouldn’t he want anyone and everyone to treat him that way? To not have his humanity doubted? Shen Jing wasn’t the smartest person, nor was he particularly bright. The best he could say of himself was that he tried to be thoughtful and receptive to others’ needs, which was why he chose to study what he did.</p><p>Outside, he could hear He Jiangshan calling out for him, then loud shushes stopping him. Something was thrown and must’ve hit the poor teen— the <em> thunk </em> and accompanying yelp almost made Shen Jing jolt with laughter, before he shoved his face back into the pillow to muffle the sound.</p><p>“Serves you right!” Fang Xiaoxiao admonished, voice lowering midway through the sentence. Shen Jing could imagine that someone had come over to get them to stop making such a ruckus. After a moment of exceptional silence, life returned, quieter this time.</p><p>See? Shen Jing turned to lie on his back, pillow tucked into the nape of his neck. The world outside was so full of life and lives, all woven into each other to form a web of love, hate, familial fondness and exasperated affection, bone-deep disgust and apathy. Shen Jing was just one of the specks, with a crushingly tiny sphere of influence.</p><p>“Maybe we can still check to see if <em> Xiao-shidi </em> is <em> really </em> asleep ba.”</p><p>“Oh, shut it. Do you really want to go to the discipline hall?”</p><p>When Shen Jing rapidly blinked and stared at the nothingness above, his eyelashes carried a hint of dampness.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Ji Hualiu</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>“Everything can be learned. We are cultivators going against the heavens.”</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Did you think I died??? Unfortunately, I didn't. This week's gonna have the days for Feb Rain and Tomorrow On swapped since I'm too tired to finish the former's chapter, but hopefully next week things will go back to normal. Thanks for reading!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The next few days were pretty peaceful; Xuan Lang, being the popular person he was, found himself busy for days as the Sect Head called upon him several times for this and that. Some disciples from the other peaks came by, too, to ask if there were anything he was willing to trade away— Holy Tree Peak disciples, for one, wanted to know if he’d chanced upon some beast venom or poisons, and the head disciple of Blue Soul Peak asked if he had any beast cores. Xuan Lang had the latter, but not the former. If Shen Jing remembered correctly, he traded a two-tailed fox beast core for a small stack of lightning talismans that could be applied to his sword.</p><p>Shen Jing, on the other hand, had dedicated his days to getting used to the rhythm of life here, fine-tuning the main plot points and antagonist background with Assistant 51C. She had been reporting back on the development of the wolf based on the new input; the wolf had named himself Xuan Shi, after his oath to look after his savior’s son. Shen Jing gave a sad smile at that.</p><p>“Is he doing anything else?” There were about five or so years to this sect arc; Xuan Shi must’ve gone to track down Xuan Lang for part of it. Actually, Shen Jing wasn’t sure of the beast’s age either. Must be older than Xuan Lang’s 19, though.</p><p>&lt;He just found a friend yesterday, a white deer god, pet of a forest god. The deer is helping him with his wounds right now. And with cultivation stuff. Also, Xuan Shi is about 50 years old, according to the magic calculation thing the system spat out.&gt;</p><p>Oh, Shen Jing remembered the white deer. It was a mysterious figure more or less, and had met up with Xuan Lang several times to dissuade him from open confrontation with Xuan Shi. It was clear that he was trying to de-escalate on both sides; there were hints of the consequences of trying to reason with the so-called Demon Dog of the Dark Wolf. But then the white deer was killed, causing the Demon Dog to lose all reason, and that led to He Jiangshan’s death. All hell broke loose then.</p><p>“The white deer can’t die,” Shen Jing surmised. “Is plot armor something we can assign…?”</p><p>&lt;Well, you can. I can apply it for frivolous deaths for now, though, would that be okay?&gt;</p><p>“Frivolous death?”</p><p>&lt;Deaths unrelated to the plot. He won’t get shot at by a rando hunting, for example.&gt;</p><p>Shen Jing thought about it. It was probably good enough. “This isn’t a saving everyone story, I suppose… We’re just here to make it flow better?”</p><p>&lt;Yeah. If the main side characters themselves don’t have full plot armor, I don’t see why the so-called antagonists should. That, at least, is pretty fair.&gt;</p><p>Mhm. Mulling over the situation with the white deer, Shen Jing finished sweeping the courtyard and left to hide in the library.</p><p>There wasn’t a strict schedule in the Silver Forest Peak, not outside morning and evening classes and form training. Even then, Bai Nian’s disciples weren’t mandated to join the latter, as they might have special manuals or instructions. Shen Jing, however, had no such things, so he had been joining the form training along with the outer disciples, spending the rest of his time either meditating in a secluded spot or going through the entire library catalogue.</p><p>It had been some time since Shen Jing had the time to read for anything but exam prep. When one was reading for leisure, even long, meandering essays hypothesizing on the nature of <em> qi </em> and its relationship with illnesses felt interesting.</p><p>“I had an inkling I’d find you here.” Shen Jing looked up from his book— Ji Hualiu stood in the doorway to the library, the morning sunlight a halo around her body as she looked down at him. “Come, <em> Xiao-shidi</em>. <em> Shizun</em>’s returned, and they asked us to come over to Holy Tree Peak.”</p><p>Shen Jing scrambled to his feet. Putting the books back on their shelves, he then stumbled to catch up with Ji Hualiu, who only gave a small smile at his fumbling.</p><p>“Third <em> Shidi </em> and Fourth <em> Shimei </em> already went ahead,” she explained as they walked towards the white staircase down the Silver Forest Peak. It gently encircled the cliffside, leading to the lower levels where all peaks met— 1002 steps for Silver Forest Peak, 《Through the Eye of the Storm》 wrote out. There was a gash on the bottom-most step, left there by the third Peak Lord after she had a big argument with the Sect Head of that time. A plateau-like area, branched out with staircases to all the other parts of the mountains. 1299 steps up the Holy Tree Peak.</p><p>“Ji-<em>shijie</em>!” several disciples greeted, all wearing different uniforms. Ji Hualiu nodded at each of them, somehow able to know each and every one of their names. Shen Jing glanced at her with more than a bit of awe.</p><p>She must’ve noticed, though, because she gave him the subtlest of smiles. “First and foremost, look at people in the eyes. If you can see them and how they are clearly, remembering names is easy.”</p><p>“...It’s Second <em> Shijie</em>’s skill and prowess,” Shen Jing said, voice small. There was a time before he was this timid and avoidant, and he didn’t succeed in remembering all his classmates’ names either.</p><p>Ji Hualiu glanced at him and said nothing. They walked to the gates of the staircase of Holy Tree Peak and climbed. Without realizing it, he sucked in a breath— on either sides of the stairs were mists shimmering with color, as if the northern lights were silk clothes being washed in this river. It was the protective barrier around the peak, but also served dual functions as a container of the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. It was for all, of course, and Holy Tree Peak’s medicinal herb fields thrived with such an abundant stream. After a hundred or so steps, the scenery changed back to the natural mountainscape, this time with massive ancient trees dotting the sides— one was the width of a car and jutted so high its shadows were softened by distance, diffused in the equally blurry sunlight. </p><p>“Everything can be learned. We are cultivators going against the heavens.”</p><p>In his head, he could hear Assistant 51C make a noise that could either be agreement or amusement.</p><p>They reached the end at last, and stepped onto the courtyard of Holy Tree Peak. It was a vast, clean, eight sided space stretching out around a thin, bare tree; the tree that gave this peak its name. This tree was ancient. Mount Song Sect was over 500 years old; this tree was beyond recorded history.</p><p>Surrounding the area were greeneries, though, and everyone was here today. Ji Hualiu led him to the quickest route to their destination: the hall just beyond the courtyard, where lingering outside were disciples from both Silver Forest and Holy Tree Peaks, chatting. When Ji Hualiu passed, though, they all turned and greeted her— she nodded in reply before pausing by the doorway, turning to Shen Jing. “<em>Xiao-shidi</em>. First you greet the Sect Head, then the elders, then you walk off to where <em> Shizun </em> is and greet him before sitting near Xiaoxiao, you understand? We will do so together, but still.”</p><p>“O-okay, thank you for your guidance Second <em> Shijie</em>.”</p><p>And so they entered.</p><p>The main hall of Mount Song Sect was… big, and a marriage of milky white jade, warm browns of old wood, and gritted gray of stone. In an arguably understated way the centerpieces of the room were extravagant; jades carved so delicately it seemed to be woven, edges soft and flowing like silk. The gentle whites were juxtaposed with the strong darks, and all were arranged such that it brought the eye back to the center— that was, where the Sect Head sat.</p><p>Ji Hualiu strode onwards with purpose, Shen Jing hiding behind her.</p><p>There were so… many people.</p><p>Still, she glanced at him, and so Shen Jing stepped forward a bit more— “This disciple pays respect to the Sect Head,” they greeted, bowing in respect. Sect Head Ji Qiaofeng laughed.</p><p>“This is your youngest disciple now, Bai Nian?”</p><p>And the star of this banquet peered up from his cup.</p><p>Sword Saint Bai Nian was almost unbelievably beautiful, in a cold and rigid way. His long, straight hair was held back in a tight braid, letting everyone see his sharp grey eyes. Clipping it was a relatively simple metal and ribbon hairpiece; it was something commented on often by other characters, the fact that he only cared for functionality in dressing. The only jewelry he wore was a single small hoop earring on his right ear, a tiny red gem swinging along underneath.</p><p>Shen Jing was reminded of the one time he accidentally stumbled upon a Xuan Lang x Bai Nian CP post. He was looking for fanart to use as a phone background, only to find a fanfiction; it was cut off in preview but the line that struck out to him was, uh— “<em>Bai Nian wore only simple clothing for the most beautiful, delicate thing decorating his visage was his soft, rare smile</em>,” and wow, what a line to stick out in your head when the man was your teacher now.</p><p>&lt;Oho, I think I know which fic you’re talking about. OP’s got good taste. Xuan Lang does seem more of a top than him.&gt;</p><p>Shen Jing, “......” Wu-<em>jie</em>, please, I’m begging you, no.</p><p>Ji Hualiu took over, bless her, and gave him an almost imperceptible nod— <em> greet the elders</em>. Once they did that, Ji Qiaofeng waved at them to sit down, where tables had been set up with simple but plentiful cakes and snacks. Fang Xiaoxiao and He Jiangshan were already there, as was Xuan Lang; Xuan Lang sat beside and slightly behind Bai Nian, whose sitting arrangement was… a bit off. It took Shen Jing a moment to realize that it was moved far closer to the Sect Head’s seat, and that the immortal’s expression was one of forbearance.</p><p>“<em>Shizun</em>,” Ji Hualiu said quietly when they walked over to join Silver Forest Peak. Bai Nian nodded in turn.</p><p>"Mm."</p><p>Upon seeing Shen Jing, though, Bai Nian's eyes softened. Gesturing at him to come closer, he then said, "Sorry."</p><p>Shen Jing: ???</p><p>"I left immediately after taking you in," Bai Nian explained after seeing his expression. This might be one of the longer sentences he’d said to anyone not Xuan Lang, Shen Jing realized in mild horror. "But I have something for you. Later."</p><p>&lt;Hey, breathe.&gt;</p><p>"O-oh, okay…"</p><p>“Go sit.”</p><p>“Okay…” And back bent, Shen Jing scurried away to his seat next to Fang Xiaoxiao, who immediately pointed at some of the cakes on his table he ought to try. Upon looking up, though, he came face to face with the fact that they arranged so that everyone was seeing everyone else— Shen Jing paled.</p><p><em> Oh no</em>.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Stuff From Shizun</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The world setting shouldn’t have him get kicked out by his own <em>shizun</em> right after he was getting guidance?</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Shen Jing was playing jigsaw puzzles in his mind.</p><p>Even Assistant 51C had grown lax with her attention towards whatever was happening in this banquet. She was watching what was happening with Xuan Shi, which she said was like watching a livestream: &lt;He’s hunting right now.&gt;</p><p>“Did he catch anything?”</p><p>&lt;Nope. The white deer has secretly been chasing away all of the animals.&gt;</p><p>“......” That’s tragic.</p><p>He Jiangshan was fidgeting in his seat. Fang Xiaoxiao looked so bored she faltered between slumping and keeping the peak’s name somewhat intact. It was hard for Shen Jing to see how Xuan Lang was doing, but it didn’t seem like he was trying too hard, either; there was a more relaxed slope to his back that seemed to indicate that he was relaxed, contrasting Bai Nian’s tense posture. The elders chattered among each other. The guzheng player off to the side continued her playing, barely taking breaks. Ji Qiaofeng nodded along, occasionally commenting on the elder’s conversation, occasionally turning to Bai Nian— but overall, the atmosphere was… Shen Jing just didn’t see the point.</p><p>It was Ji Hualiu who came to their peak’s rescue. Rising to her feet without raising too much attention, she then knelt beside her father, who indulgently leaned back to hear her quiet request. It must’ve still been audible for those nearby, though, given their cultivation— but nobody did as much as raise an eyebrow, only making imperceptible nods in agreement. Assistant 51C whistled a bit as she eavesdropped, making the occasional comment about Ji Hualiu’s nice word construction.</p><p>&lt;She’d be good in law or something. That’s a very nice appeal.&gt;</p><p>Shen Jing, “......” Aight then.</p><p>“You’re right,” Ji Qiaofeng said, nodding. “Bai Nian, do rest well. We shall continue our chats later.”</p><p>He got a stiff nod at that.</p><p>Bai Nian’s relief at being allowed to leave was almost visible from the way he hurried back to his peak. It might’ve been just how he was, though— not a single second wasted. After exchanging glances, Xuan Lang had to lead the rest of his fellow disciples back, making sure to pay respects to the elders and Ji Qiaofeng properly. He Jiangshan “hehehe”-d as they descended the stairs of Holy Tree Peak. “<em>Shizun</em>’s moving as fa—”</p><p>“He Jiangshan,” Ji Hualiu warned. “Your mouth.”</p><p>“Sooorry, Second <em> Shijie</em>.”</p><p>The five of them split up once they got back home, with Xuan Lang heading off to talk to Bai Nian and Ji Hualiu off to talk with the groundskeeper. Shen Jing stuck around with He Jiangshan and Fang Xiaoxiao— or more accurately, he wasn’t allowed to leave. When Xuan Lang found them, it was to He Jiangshan shoving Shen Jing’s hand into a box he’d rigged up with a beast core, the latter looking a mix of mildly horrified and terrified.</p><p>“What are you…?” Xuan Lang asked, voice flat.</p><p>“Trying to figure out <em> Xiao-shidi</em>’s elemental alignment!” He Jiangshan answered cheerfully. “ Xiaoxiao’s fire. <em> Da-shixiong</em>, you already know yours, right? Can you help me check if this thing works properly?”</p><p>Xuan Lang shook his head. “<em>Shizun </em> wants to talk with <em> Xiao-shidi</em>.”</p><p>He Jiangshan and Fang Xiaoxiao exchanged a look before letting Shen Jing go, and after a nudge Shen Jing trailed after Xuan Lang, head lowered. It wasn’t that the box was horrifying or anything, but did it need that weird undetermined goo inside to work…? Shen Jing looked at his hand. It didn’t leave anything bar a somewhat purplish tinge on his fingers, and though they rubbed away like faded ink, it just transferred it onto his other hand. Shen Jing decided to leave it alone.</p><p>“What’s that thing made of, anyway, Wu-<em>jie</em>?”</p><p>&lt;It is a mystery~&gt;</p><p>Shen Jing, “......” I thought you were supposed to be reassuring…</p><p>Ah, no good thinking about that. Hurrying to keep up with Xuan Lang’s pace, Shen Jing turned to other thoughts like why he was being called, and swiftly changed the direction of his thoughts before he worked himself into a panic attack.</p><p>Bai Nian’s residence was somewhat out of the way, being placed in the middle of a grove of white trees with silver, pin-like leaves— the origin of the peak’s name. It looked somewhat unassuming, but the tranquility of the atmosphere made Shen Jing nervous, as though by walking in he would break the peace. Xuan Lang walked up to it with no hesitation, though, and knocked on the door before nodding at Shen Jing. Eyebrows furrowed, Shen Jing took slow steps forward and entered.</p><p>The interior of the Peak Lord’s residence was also simple. Bar a table with some chairs, there was little inside here; an ink painting hung on the wall, depicting a woman standing by a stream, and the rest of the room was partitioned off by standard screens seen in the peak. From behind one of them Shen Jing heard, “Come over here.”</p><p>Shen Jing gingerly made his way over.</p><p>It seemed like this section got turned into a study of sorts, despite not looking made for it; too little space, for one, as the one bookshelf there was squeezing it real hard. Bai Nian was sitting by the table, flipping through a book in front of him, and looked up only when Shen Jing got properly, awkwardly settled.</p><p>"I've heard from Xuan Lang. Keep up the work."</p><p>"Y-yes, <em> Shizun</em>!”</p><p>Shen Jing had no idea what was happening here, but he wasn’t about to interrupt to ask the question. </p><p>"I called you here to give you a different manual," Bai Nian said, not even attempting to transition. He closed the book he’d been flipping through and pushed it across the small table, nodding at Shen Jing to pick it up. "You have a nature better suited for another specialization entirely, but I took you away from Holy Tree. I apologize for that."</p><p>Shen Jing: …?</p><p>Silver Forest Peak was, to a degree, a peak that specialized in offensive martial arts. It wasn’t to a point where they were renowned for it, but Ji Qiaofeng wouldn’t have offered the Peak Lord position of a peak that wasn’t aligned to Bai Nian’s skills and talent. Silver Forest Peak’s martial arts was the graceful sort, and Big Cat described it as ‘light, steady and unpredictable as mist, pure and transient like first snow.” Shen Jing had <em> no </em>idea how to turn that description into an imaginable fighting style, at least until now.</p><p>Holy Tree Peak, meanwhile, was more general; its proximity to the spiritual river did lead the sect to turn a large portion of its grounds into spiritual herbs gardens. As such, a good portion of its members ended up in that general field. Blue Soul Peak had produced a number of weapons and magical treasures experts, so they taught that to promising disciples. Likewise with Red Autumn Peak, though for that peak it was talismans, spells and music. Hundred Fields Peak was started by a person who was deeply touched by the plight of the common folk, so its teachings were an eclectic mix of intensive bestiary focus, creative problem-solving and apparently, commerce. Shen Jing frankly felt like Big Cat was running out of ideas at that point. Black Earth Peak focused on arrays and formations, but because its Peak Lord was, for lack of better word, an encyclopedic nerd, it was the one that ran the libraries and Hall of Scrolls too.</p><p>That Bai Nian said Shen Jing should’ve been in Holy Tree Peak, well… he wasn’t wrong. Based on natural inclinations, he ought to be. <em> I’m sorry Shizun, I’m literally bending the rules of this universe… or society... </em></p><p>"You have innate talent in healing," Bai Nian continued. "The kind… that requires exemplary control. I can't teach you too much, but I have books. If you're ever confused, come to me."</p><p>Shen Jing: ???</p><p>This was a development Shen Jing wasn’t expecting. When did Bai Nian have books on healing arts? Still, Shen Jing kept his head low and his nod small. "Okay, <em> Shizun</em>."</p><p>"I will only give you the basic ones for now. Do not rush."</p><p>“Okay… Will do.”</p><p>Bai Nian gave him another assessing look, and Shen Jing could feel cold sweat running down his back. He didn’t know what it was for this time. He was already accepted, right…? The world setting shouldn’t have him get kicked out by his own <em> shizun </em> right after he was getting guidance?</p><p>“Hm. Xuan Lang was right.”</p><p>Shen Jing inhaled. “Eh?”</p><p>But Bai Nian only shook his head. “Nothing. You have me. Go.”</p><p>Not the least bit less confused, Shen Jing left, clutching the books close to his chest. There were three of it, but Shen Jing hadn’t checked it any more than that; they each were a different color, but different in the sense that they were different <em> shades </em> of green. Outside the world seemed empty and welcoming, but then Shen Jing spotted Xuan Lang standing and looking at one of the white trees. He turned when Shen Jing stopped in his tracks.</p><p>"What did <em> Shizun </em> say?" Xuan Lang asked. Leaning back a bit, Shen Jing held the books out.</p><p>"Uh, he wants me to read these…"</p><p>Xuan Lang didn’t take them; he just flipped through the covers and stared at the titles. "...Recipes for New Years Feast?"</p><p>Shen Jing: …?</p><p>"The Legend of Chang'e. All You Need to Know About Burying Bodies."</p><p>Paling, Shen Jing snatched the books and flipped through it. It— wasn't recipes. Or how to bury bodies. He let out a relieved sigh, feeling the panic and embarrassment escape his body by becoming steam. Face red, he showed the insides to Xuan Lang, in particular one with a diagram on how to control his qi.</p><p>"Oh." This time, he did take it from Shen Jing’s hand and flipped through the contents. After reading it more thoroughly, his expression deepened. He looked up. “<em>Shizun </em> wants you to focus on qi synergy and control?”</p><p>“I think he understood that I won’t make a good… swordsman,” Shen Jing said, scratching his cheek. “And, erm…”</p><p>Every cultivator had their own talents, but a peak tended to have people learning a general style. Still, exceptions existed. In a novel like this, it was natural that the disciples under Bai Nian had different niches— they needed to be distinct, and different specializations tended to result in more interesting team dynamics. In a way, it made sense that Shen Jing was categorized into that of a healer; he already was training to be a nurse anyway, and it was an empty spot in this team set-up. All in all, Shen Jing thought it was especially kind of the world-generating algorithm. It might keep him off battles, too, though he didn’t really want to think about that quite yet.</p><p>Xuan Lang seemed to search his face for something before nodding, clasping his shoulder. “Study hard. You will do well.”</p><p>“Th-thank you, <em> Da-shixiong</em>.”</p><p>And like that they made their way back, where Shen Jing parted ways when he scurried off back to his room, ready to unwind. He didn’t get into bed, though— that would be a bad place to be caught in during broad daylight. He settled down by the window, carefully putting away the thicker two of the books and checking the thinnest one first. The pages seemed to be… old. In a world where such things might not show, thanks to magic and whatnot, that was notable— it meant there must be a reason why this was like this. Or perhaps Bai Nian preserved it? But why would he preserve medical books? These seemed to be from the same author; though none of them were named, the handwriting for both the main body text and notes looked the same.</p><p>“<em>Wu-jie</em>, is there anything from Shizun’s background that could explain how he has these manuals…?” Shen Jing studied the first few pages, noting the additional notes in tiny script beside paragraphs and diagrams. “How much of his backstory had been revealed, again?”</p><p>&lt;Not much. But it seemed he had an old friend who was a doctor of some sorts. Shady one? It was just a passing mention, though, and could’ve been construed in a number of ways.&gt;</p><p>Huh.</p><p>The world-generating algorithm must’ve started its extrapolations… But where was this supposed to lead?</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Edit (Sept 11, 2020): fixed a rather glaring typo</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Sword Saint Bai Nian</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>&lt; Based on my kinda honed intuition, though, I think you accidentally unlocked… new dimensions? &gt;</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Bai Nian was there at the morning class the next day, and everyone was rooted to their spots.</p>
<p>“Continue,” he nodded at Ji Hualiu, and to her credit she didn’t seem affected by his presence at all as she read out the day’s lecture. It was on <em> yaoguai mogui </em> and the classifications of the creatures in this universe— Shen Jing attended the class, but of course he had Assistant 51C and the glossary.</p>
<p>Shen Jing had spent the rest of yesterday flipping through the books, first to get an overview of the ‘chapter length’ and general outline, and a second time to read more thoroughly. He had Assistant 51C help, too, whenever he got stumped by things that might be natural and common knowledge for residents of this world but alien to him— so there were no problems with that. For the most part, Shen Jing found himself wishing he had his favorite pen and a nice, clean notebook, but Assistant 51C said that they don’t have those specific brands in stock so they’d have to wait for the next monthly shopping.</p>
<p>Shen Jing, “...But I thought you just create those items out of nothing…?”</p>
<p>&lt;Oh, you don’t mind knockoffs? Right, I can do that. Give me a sec.&gt;</p>
<p>Shen Jing, “......”</p>
<p>It was a very surreal conversation.</p>
<p>Bai Nian left at the first break, seemingly knowing full well that his presence only made everyone tense.</p>
<p>"Everyone return in an incense's time," Ji Hualiu said. Her clear, bell-like voice rang in the misty morning air. "<em>Da-shixiong </em> will be giving a class on the journey he'd undertaken."</p>
<p>The kids all lit up. And Shen Jing did, too, because he would love to hear about it— even though Xuan Lang was canonically bad at telling stories— and yet. When he left the room to take a quick break, this happened:</p>
<p>"Shen Jing." Shen Jing whipped his head to face Bai Nian, who was sitting on a stone bench a bit to the distance with Xuan Lang. Bai Nian beckoned him over; Xuan Lang stood up to free the other half of the bench for him— Shen Jing shook his head and stood, swaying on the balls of his feet. "Anything you didn't understand?"</p>
<p>Shen Jing shook his head again. "I'm reading and rereading it slowly, <em> Shizun</em>, but I think I'm fine… but I haven't tried anything really yet… I've been cross-referencing what I read with other books…? Is… that fine?"</p>
<p>The contents of the book he'd read had been basic enough that there were still others that covered the same topics in the library, but Shen Jing really could sense that the author was… different. Not in a bad way! The author had skipped explaining several core concepts in favor of jumping right into it, and in other places he would explain with such simple and intuitive language Shen Jing wondered how someone could grasp the heart of a complicated subject with such… ease.</p>
<p>It was all the best parts of a great textbook, combined with the casual but informative anecdotes of the best lectures. </p>
<p>“It’s actually a very nice book?” Shen Jing said, wondering if that came across as too boot-licking or not. “I’m going to reread…?”</p>
<p>Bai Nian looked stunned. “It is?” It was only for a brief second, though, before his expression returned to the unfazed stillness of a lone, bare tree. “Good.”</p>
<p>“<em>Da-shixiong</em>,” Ji Hualiu called. “<em>Xiao-shidi</em>, too.”</p>
<p>“I want to talk to Shen Jing,” Bai Nian said. Everyone stilled, staring at him. Xuan Lang and Ji Hualiu looked especially weirded out, but none could compare to Shen Jing’s internal horror.</p>
<p>Xuan Lang, though, like the… oh, he couldn’t say bad things about Xuan Lang, like the protagonist he was, just went to class. He shot them both a look before going inside, though, as did Ji Hualiu. And so it was just him and <em> Shizun</em>. Just Shen Jing and Sword Saint Bai Nian, and the trees and rolling mists around them.</p>
<p>“Erm…”</p>
<p>“......”</p>
<p>Shen Jing: Wu-<em>jie</em>, what’s happening?!</p>
<p>&lt;Err, I’m checking… Based on my kinda honed intuition, though, I think you accidentally unlocked… new dimensions? Like listen. There’s no character like you in the main cast, so it’s normal that these facets of these characters never surfaced. Like for example, on the chance that the books aren’t actually just the world giving you an out, then it could be that Bai Nian had them and took care of them, but never had a disciple who would actually need or appreciate these books? Because I didn’t insert that bit either.&gt;</p>
<p>“Is that even possible?”</p>
<p>&lt;I’m not in world-generating department, I don’t know. They’re the ones doing the research and running the programs and stuff. I do have admin access and can edit stuff, but where they get all these information isn’t me. I didn’t stalk Three Legged Cat’s posts or anything. I can ask that department, but it might take a bit for them to find the information about Bai Nian’s mystery healer friend.&gt;</p>
<p>“A bit?”</p>
<p>&lt;Since it’s so vague and I don’t know the keywords, I reckon between several working days to about 2 months.&gt;</p>
<p>“......” That’s an ETA for a lost package.</p>
<p>Chewing on his bottom lip, Shen Jing stared at the grass as he shifted on his feet; Bai Nian, on the other hand, was stiff as a statue as he stared at the building. Then, Bai Nian drew in a sharp breath. “The explanations weren’t confusing?”</p>
<p>Shen Jing, “?”</p>
<p>“They weren’t,” he said. “I just need some time to really… process it? But the language is clear, I think!”</p>
<p>Was Shen Jing imagining the fleeting, complicated expression in Bai Nian’s face? He wasn’t, was he? He actually prided himself, to a degree, on being pretty receptive to other people’s emotions— Shen Jing, for once, could tell if his mother was silent because she had an awful day or if she was thinking about something with just the way she carried herself around the house. And you know, she was introverted and closed off— at least that was what he himself felt, since his aunt always said that his mother used to be confident and bright, just as focused as she was. But well, she wasn’t anymore… And the Shen Wenzhu Shen Jing knew was someone who would drape a blanket over her lap as she watched late night TV whenever she had a hard day, while she would sit by the kitchen counter instead when she felt pensive, a cup of chamomile tea by her phone.</p>
<p>Bai Nian, to him, was awkward in his coldness, and possibly cold <em> because </em> of his awkwardness. His reaction to the banquet was definitely one of discomfort, but the way he ran off seemed to indicate he didn’t know how he actually felt about it emotionally…? Of course, these were conjectures. But Shen Jing didn’t recall him being this awkward with Xuan Lang, or any of his other disciples… What did Shen Jing present to Bai Nian that he was so uncomfortable? What was it about what he said that triggered emotions within him?</p>
<p>&lt;Interesting that you said that, actually. I think you’re pretty good. Not sure about that him running off from that banquet was because he had unprocessed emotions about it, but he sure didn’t get along with that spotlight.&gt;</p>
<p>“It’s just… a conjecture.”</p>
<p>&lt;He’s got pretty good eye, too. He’s been staring at you talking to me all this time and I think he’s on his way to deducing a thing or two.”</p>
<p>Shen Jing felt his heart stop as he glanced at Bai Nian— sure enough, the man was looking at him, eyes sharp with focus and intent. Their grey felt like steel now, and Shen Jing could feel it pressing against his throat. His earring glinted like a droplet of blood. Shen Jing could feel sweat run down his neck.</p>
<p>Bai Nian reached out.</p>
<p>And patted Shen Jing’s head. “Go back to class.”</p>
<p>Shen Jing, “?”</p>
<p>“In two days, we will be going to town.” And with that as his parting words, Bai Nian left. His youngest disciple only blinked, rooted on the spot, confused.</p>
<p>Oh right! He forgot that the introductory plot was supposed to start!</p>
<p>
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</p>
<hr/>
<p>
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</p>
<p>Shen Jing didn’t feel right going back to class in the middle of Xuan Lang talking, so he sat outside, picking up a twig to trace lines on the dirt. Fang Xiaoxiao and He Jiangshan had their own morning routines so there was little to no chance he would find them walking around here, and he shouldn’t seek them out either— they ought to be training right now. Shen Jing could still hear Xuan Lang’s voice just fine anyway. It was just that… this reminded Shen Jing a lot of that one time he was late to class and couldn’t bring himself to enter and nope, not going there, he wasn’t here to work himself up into another anxiety attack.</p>
<p>&lt;Yeah, anyway, this isn’t exactly class. He’s literally just doing a Q&amp;A. And you’ve read the passage.&gt;</p>
<p>“And I was talking with <em> Shizun</em>, yeah,” Shen Jing said, nodding. “<em>Da-shixiong </em> won’t have any… misunderstandings… about why I’m not in class…”</p>
<p>From here, Shen Jing could hear Xuan Lang answer a question about <em> mushen</em>— the forest gods of this world. Ah, that reminded him of the white deer… but the next mini-arc had nothing to do with Xuan Shi and Shen Jing didn’t think that there would be activities so soon, so he turned his attention to the upcoming plot. “Can you refresh me on what happens next, Wu-<em>jie</em>? Now that I’m kind of… living it, somehow it’s harder to remember.”</p>
<p>&lt;Oh. It’s a serial murderer. A <em> yao</em>, pretty sure it’s… yup, a black cat. I think what that entire plot point was supposed to reinforce was the dynamics of the main cast, so it wasn’t that… it doesn’t make that much sense in the long run, but whatever. Anyway, in short, a black cat who was cultivating all this time was saved by a group of nice kids in the poorer part of town. One of the kids got bullied and ended up dying, which yanno… horrid. But now the cat’s back and he’s out for blood. I think that entire shit happened like, 10 years ago? Wait, no, this says 14 years ago. The people he’s murdering were the ones that led to the death of that kid.&gt;</p>
<p>Shen Jing lit up, stopping mid-poke. “I remember. They pretty quickly settled on a <em> yao </em> being responsible, then He Jiangshan noticed something off about the way some tiles were broken and traced the path to a tree… thinking about it, that bit had always been somewhat like circumstantial evidence…”</p>
<p>&lt;It was leading to the poorer district, though, with signs that later point to one of the poor kids who knew the dead kid. Fang Xiaoxiao was the one who could actually keep up with the cat at night. Ji Hualiu gathered information from all over the place. Xuan Lang was the one who had guessed where the bodies were disposed of.&gt;</p>
<p>It wasn’t a perfect mystery, but it did its job.</p>
<p>“Why didn’t you come in?” a voice asked from above. Shen Jing jumped in his seat— and fell back down onto someone’s foot, so he scrambled forward and away and almost face-planted into the dirt, but now he wished he did actually plant his face into the dirt. Pushing himself back up, Shen Jing climbed to his feet and looked up at the source of the voice and found Xuan Lang, usually cold but gentle expression this shade of incredulous.</p>
<p>“<em>D-da-da-shixiong</em>,” Shen Jing said, brushing dirt of his clothes and palms, “I, I, I—”</p>
<p>“Calm down,” Xuan Lang said, eyebrows furrowed. “Breathe deeply.”</p>
<p>His voice was firm— Shen Jing did as he was told. After several deep inhales and exhales, Shen Jing’s reply wasn’t as stuttery anymore. “I was… didn’t want to interrupt mid-session so I sat out. But I was listening! I promise…”</p>
<p>Heck. Shen Jing could see the other kids getting curious. Some of the younger ones were trying to peer out from the windows, though the older disciples stopped them and herded back to their seats; it seemed like they were wrapping up on today’s classes, with everyone now getting ready for breakfast. Xuan Lang seemed to notice his gaze and nodded at Shen Jing to walk ahead. Legs shaky, Shen Jing stumbled rather than walked his first few steps.</p>
<p>There were no comments from him, but Shen Jing could still feel the judgement, or maybe more the worry—?</p>
<p>Regardless of what it was, he could feel it drape over his shoulders like a dead weight, dragging his head down to stare at his feet as he walked onwards, step by hesitant step.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I've got a thesis defense coming up and really should be getting back to the slides and prep so I'm!!! bye regularity!!! (im sorry)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Start of Introductory Mini-Arc</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>"You’ve said it yourself. I'm your Da-shixiong. It's my responsibility to look after everyone."</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The next day passed with little problems. After the awkward morning, the disciples of the Silver Forest Peak finally warmed up to their <em> shizun</em>'s presence and started swarming him instead, with proper distance of course. Though he seemed antisocial, Bai Nian actually remembered each and every one of his outer disciples, even specifically commenting on some of their individual progress. Shen Jing, for the most part, stayed back to study his new manuals more, meditating whenever he needed a break to process it.</p><p>It was after dinner that Fang Xiaoxiao and He Jiangshan pounced on him, grinning. "<em>Xiao-shidi</em>, we're going down tomorrow, have you prepared?"</p><p>"Err," Shen Jing said. Was there anything he needed to prepare other than clothes?</p><p>&lt;A novel, and some earphones.&gt;</p><p>Shen Jing, "......" Thank you for reminding me of luxuries I can no longer have.</p><p>“Other than clothes, is there anything to prepare?” he asked. Fang Xiaoxiao and He Jiangshan exchanged a look.</p><p>“You’re not going to get anything?” He Jiangshan pursed his lips. “Then again, you’ve never gone down the mountain before, have you? And I don’t think you knew about doing some chores for money… Gah, and you’re so diligent about that, too! It’s really a shame, next time, we’re going to the office to make sure you get your allowance money!”</p><p>The novel never talked about Xuan Lang doing any of these things, but it might’ve been mentioned in passing. It would make sense, too, Shen Jing supposed— He Jiangshan often bought this and that to enable his inventing hobby and it couldn’t have come from nowhere… Unimportant things weren’t mentioned in the novel, because Three Legged Cat was a better writer than that, but Shen Jing couldn’t help but feel blindsided by how… normal things were when he had to live through it.</p><p>“It’s okay,” Shen Jing said, but then his mouth was covered  by a calloused hand.</p><p>“Nope,” Fang Xiaoxiao said solemnly, shaking her head with eyes closed. “It’s a must now, I decree it. You’re not allowed to say no!”</p><p>Bai Nian, standing on the doorway, coughed. The three of them looked up— the room was empty, leaving behind only their <em> shizun </em> there while Xuan Lang and Ji Hualiu stood a bit further outside. Fang Xiaoxiao and He Jiangshan leapt away, hiding their hands behind their backs.</p><p>“...Sleep,” Bai Nian said in the end, staring at the three of them. At their fervent nods, he turned around and walked away. His five disciples prepared to leave, each carrying dirty dishes, but then Bai Nian looked back and said, “None of you bring manuals. It’s field training. There’s no time for books.”</p><p>This time, he was gone.</p><p>A minute passed as the five of them exchanged looks. It was Fang Xiaoxiao who broke the silence: “Who’s even so bookworm-y they’d bring training manuals for a few day’s trip to town?”</p><p>Shen Jing, “......”</p><p>Wu-<em>jie</em>, I’m being bullied, I want to go home...</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>There was a knock on his door before the sun even changed the shade of the shadows in his bedroom— bleary, Shen Jing rolled out of his thick blankets. “Eh…?”</p><p>“Time to get ready.” Xuan Lang’s voice was muffled by the early morning air, distant. “We’re heading out in one <em> shichen</em>.”</p><p>Shen Jing stared at the ceiling in a daze for several minutes before he finally rolled out of bed, almost flattening his face with the floor. He could hear groans from next door, too, from Fang Xiaoxiao and later He Jiangshan— though then there was just this sound of a small gong and… Rubbing his eyes, Shen Jing took the wooden basin and went on to do his morning routine.</p><p>A yawn sounded in his brain. &lt;G’morn.&gt;</p><p>“Good morning, Wu-<em>jie</em>. You sleep?”</p><p>&lt;Sometimes. When I don’t have to run on coffee made with boiled energy drinks.&gt;</p><p>“That’s disgusting,” Shen Jing honestly said. He toweled his face off, shuddering when a breeze slipped in and made the already-cold water that clung to his skin frigid. Aah, this is the part he hated so much about living here… He wasn’t a big fan of being frozen… “Please get regular sleep… Schedule is important.”</p><p>Not that he was following his own advice during college days. There simply wasn’t time for that. Shen Jing wasn’t a big fan of that year either, now that he had a taste of a simpler life. He pulled on some fresh clothes, grabbed the pouch He Jiangshan lent him last night to keep his belongings, and dragged himself out to the courtyard.</p><p>Bai Nian was leaning against the tree, head tilted all the way up as he stared at the foliage above. Xuan Lang and Ji Hualiu were sitting nearby, seemingly in a quiet conversation. Over her shoulders was a thick-looking, dark cloak embroidered with a pastel turquoise, while on her lap was a black mass of cloth. When she noticed Shen Jing coming out, she looked up. “Come here and take your cloak.”</p><p>Shen Jing hurried over, holding back another yawn. The sky hadn’t even changed shades yet… It was still a cold, deep grey, fragmented edges of the night merging with the foliage outline. It was about fifteen minutes before He Jiangshan and Fang Xiaoxiao finally made it out, alive but at what cost.</p><p>They went to eat breakfast, and then they were off. Everyone was getting more awake my the moment as they descended the hundreds of stairs down the peak, but Shen Jing especially so as he caught a glimpse of cotton candy clouds and shy blue sky in the moments preceding the sunrise— he paused mid-step to watch it rise.</p><p>“Eh, why are we stopping?”</p><p>He hurried to catch up. “Nothing…”</p><p>The lowest part of Mount Song Sect was something akin to a man-made plateau, with a large, open area surrounded by walls and equally formidable gates. Shen Jing was only aware of its existence after the novel mentioned entrance exams; otherwise, it wasn’t really mentioned. It was empty and rather devoid of life; somewhere off to the sides, though, there must’ve been something more. Ji Hualiu went somewhere and when she came back it was with two young men, six horses in hand. She turned to Bai Nian. “<em>Shizun</em>, do we need a carriage?”</p><p>Shen Jing warily eyed the horses. While he was never a big person, the size of these horses was even more intimidating when he was in the shape of his fourteen years old self, who was… even smaller. He’d never come close to one, either. His life being what it was, his mother never had the time nor energy or money to take him outside for the most part; as a child, his only “trips” were grocery trips. He remembered the few occasions he got to play at the park, but even then the closest thing to a big animal he’d approached was someone’s German Shepherd...</p><p>"I'm not getting in one!" Fang Xiaoxiao said, hand raised higher than she'd ever have it in class. With gusto she pretty much spun around as she bounded over to one of the horses— it seemed to recognize her, too, as it shook off the man holding on to its reins. When Bai Nian didn’t object, she swung up onto its back, grinning with triumph. Shen Jing couldn’t help but think, <em> ah, this is it, the next Sword Saint… Of course she’d love things that bring her thrill. </em></p><p>"Me neither," He Jiangshan said as he followed suit. He did so with less fun kicks and spins, but with no less glee. Ji Hualiu shook her head in amusement as she turned to Bai Nian once more.</p><p>“You?” Bai Nian asked.</p><p>For the trip, Ji Hualiu had put on a <em>mili</em>[1]. The sheer silk veil cast a mystical, ethereal softness to her already beautiful features; it extended down to her hips, and whenever a passing breeze played with it, she looked more and more like an immortal descending to walk among men.</p><p>
  <em> She's so pretty… </em>
</p><p>“It’s been a while,” she admitted. “I’d like some fresh air.”</p><p>“No need, then,” Bai Nian said to the stablekeepers. “Get a smaller…” He must’ve remembered something important, though, because he stopped and turned to Shen Jing. The look in his expressionless face was clear, at least to Shen Jing— <em> do you even… know how to ride a horse? </em></p><p>The answer to which was, of course, no. In a feat of amazing biology, though, Shen Jing expressed this without words: his body broke into cold sweat as his brain screamed, the sound not unlike nuclear warning sirens.</p><p>“Eh?” He Jiangshan steered his horse around to approach Shen Jing, who stumbled on his own two feet as he backed away from the curious animal. “If <em> Xiao-shidi </em> hasn’t ridden one before, how about going with me? I’ll show you fun!”</p><p>
  <em> No thank you! Wu-jie, help me! </em>
</p><p>&lt;Automated Message: Be there in a jiffy, getting coffee.&gt;</p><p>
  <em> Aaa—?! </em>
</p><p>"I'll just have my saddle changed," Xuan Lang decided. "<em>Xiao-shidi </em> can go with me."</p><p>As soon as he said that, Bai Nian nodded. “Go with Xuan Lang.”</p><p>Having their orders, the stablekeepers went to get the saddle changed. Bai Nian got onto his own horse, which seemed to be very familiar with him— it was a large, white one, because of course it would be. Xuan Lang went out on errands on a semi regular basis, and he was the head disciple of the Silver Forest Peak, so he got one, too— a dark brown mare, one that looked at Shen Jing in curiosity when Xuan Lang nudged him forward.</p><p><em> This is the easiest, least problematic way to do this</em>, Shen Jing reminded himself as he shuffled forward and, uh, <em> attempted </em> to get on. Oh no… this wasn’t working out. <em> Other ways would just result in more problems, be it someone preparing a carriage or me being left behind, which might get people to talk about the peak negatively </em>…</p><p>&lt;Hey, I’m back! With coffee. Got me the entire kettle here. Wait, what’s up? Do you need help getting up on that horse?&gt;</p><p>“Wu-<em>jie</em>, I’m near tears, please help…”</p><p>&lt;Shh, shh, <em> Jiejie</em>’s here, everything will be fine.&gt;</p><p>And two things happened at once: Shen Jing’s body moved on its own as Xuan Lang moved to help him up, and Shen Jing honestly, for the first time in this entire transmigration thing, wished he could just evacuate his mortal coil. But nothing happened after; no comments or no looks. Xuan Lang climbed on and sat behind him, pushing Shen Jing’s cloak to the side a bit so he wouldn’t sit on it. Then his arms became cages as he grabbed the reins.</p><p>With Shen Jing stiff as a board, they went out of the sect and descended the last stretch of the mountains.</p><p>Bai Nian led the way. The town they were heading to, Anlin town, wasn’t that far from Mount Song. It was a bit further out from the town the disciples frequented, but it was reachable by foot in half a day, maybe a bit more; definitely faster on sword. But as of now, only Xuan Lang and Ji Hualiu had swords, so horses were brought out. It didn’t dampen Fang Xiaoxiao and He Jiangshan’s energy any. The two trotted right behind Shizun, sometimes trying to overtake each other without alerting Bai Nian too much. Xuan Lang was, as usual when they were on excursions, at the tail end. Ji Hualiu usually rode a bit slower so that they were still at conversation range, but from what Shen Jing could see of her, she seemed to be enjoying the scenery and not particularly thirsty for small talks.</p><p>It <em> was </em> a beautiful trail, though. The road was wide enough for two, three carriages side by side, and paved too, but pressing against the sides were the thick forests, alive with the sounds of morning. Every now and then they’d pass by a cart carrying supplies and food up to the sect— Shen Jing couldn’t help but peer, curious. After half an hour, the tension in his body had gone to its normal levels. Not zero, but he was enjoying himself— the air, the noises of nature, the rhythmic movement of the horse.</p><p>“They have horseriding lessons every month,” Xuan Lang said. His voice was low, the texture of Ji Hualiu’s veil flapping in the wind, but Shen Jing almost jumped and slammed his skull against the protagonist’s jaw at the sound. “You should join that.”</p><p>“O-okay… Thank you for… Sorry for the trouble, <em> Da-shixiong</em>. I will learn as soon as I can.” </p><p>"You’ve said it yourself. I'm your <em> Da-shixiong</em>. It's my responsibility to look after everyone."</p><p>He said it with conviction, and having read the novel to the end, Shen Jing believed him.</p><p>After the attack on Mount Song, it hadn’t just been the direct disciples of Bai Nian who’d gone with Xuan Lang. Though the younger ones didn’t understand what had happened and some blamed him, Xuan Lang continued to shelter them, pulling along this group of over a dozen across hell and high water. It hadn’t been easy; Xuan Lang’s reputation had been dragged through the mud. Some of the older disciples continued to believe in him, but being cut off from everything… some of them succumbed to one thing or another, including wounds they sustained during the attack. Nearing the lowest point of the true plotline, the surviving outer disciple group of the former Silver Forest Peak ended up leaving Xuan Lang for a more secure life in another sect… It was a stinging betrayal, but one that Xuan Lang couldn’t blame them for. He couldn’t begrudge them. And he didn’t. Not until the uncharacteristic blackening that became more and more unfair the longer Shen Jing thought about it.</p><p>Staring down and tracing lines on the saddle, Shen Jing nodded. “I know. Thank you for everything.”</p><p>This time, I promise you… No matter how bad it gets, this journey will not end a tragedy— not for a second time.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Sorry, I'll footnote this properly later-- today just feels a bit off-kilter and I'm kinda looking forward to sleep. Here's the link to the weimao thing: <a href="http://dragonsarmory.blogspot.com/2019/04/weimao-chinese-veil-hat.html">[link]</a>.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. The Monster of Anlin Town</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>“We will split into groups to make the most of today. <em>Shizun</em>?”</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was nearing midday when they arrived.</p><p>Near the tail-end of their journey He Jiangshan couldn’t hold it anymore, and he’d spurred his horse onwards, causing Fang Xiaoxiao, ever the competitive spirit, to race him as well. Bai Nian was left with his three lagging disciples, who’d all stayed behind to chat about peak logistics of all things— his expression was flat and unflappable, but Assistant 51C had been cackling inside Shen Jing’s brain for the past few minutes.</p><p>&lt;Shoulda seen his face when he turned and only caught a glimpse of Fang Xiaoxiao’s horse’s tail as she just sped off. It was like a mix of resignation and surprise and bafflement. Guy really don’t got much experience dealing with kids.&gt;</p><p>Anlin Town was a lively town, with bright walls and rich foliages. The sun streamed through the gaps as though infusing the scene with ordinary magic; Shen Jing couldn’t help but feel warm when they finally entered, trying not to look too much like he was ogling everything as they went down the main street. Fang Xiaoxiao and He Jiangshan had arrived ahead, lingering by a fountain in what appeared to be the town center— several people were there, too, seemingly there to wait for their arrival.</p><p>The village head received them and walked them to the inn they’d reserved, several men coming over to take their horses to the stable. There was an entire welcome thing that Shen Jing tuned out, and Bai Nian probably did, too— after a whole awkward half an hour (for Shen Jing and Bai Nian), they were finally allowed to leave and put their things in their rooms. Each got their own, with Bai Nian getting the best room— hospitality funded by the rich family of the victim, it seemed.</p><p>No matter, though. They gathered once more in the sitting room. Xuan Lang was there first, and handed them each simple, nondescript scrolls— when Shen Jing unfurled it, he saw that the details of the case had been copied onto it, and that it had included a lot more details than he’d recalled laid out in the novel.</p><p>“We came here because there’s been a string of murders across the town, one where witnesses only say they saw the shadow of the creature before the victim died,” Xuan Lang explained as the rest opened their scrolls and read through its contents. Silence. After even Fang Xiaoxiao finished reading hers, he continued, “We will split into groups to make the most of today. <em> Shizun</em>?”</p><p>Bai Nian turned an assessing eye to them. After some time, he said, “Xuan Lang, take Shen Jing. Ji Hualiu, go with Fang Xiaoxiao. He Jiangshan will go with me.”</p><p>Eh…?</p><p>Eh?!</p><p>It wasn’t that Shen Jing felt like he was intruding, this time, but he would’ve— he would’ve felt better if he was dragged along by Fang Xiaoxiao, or He Jiangshan even. They were— they were the type to happily go and get what they wanted, and interacting with them was simple. Shen Jing was more than happy to roll along with it, knowing that he didn’t have to second-guess whether they actually wanted him around. With Xuan Lang and Ji Hualiu, they both were polite enough to not let distaste show unless Shen Jing was really, truly an awful person; reading them was harder, hard enough to make him nervous. As for Bai Nian, it was better if he didn’t think about it.</p><p>Shen Jing didn’t know explicitly what Xuan Lang’s expectations of him would be in a situation like this. Though it still left him tense all the same, at least Shen Jing knew that in classes Xuan Lang would expect attention and being listened to, and in cultivation he expected everyone to do their due diligence. In a case, though? Would he expect Shen Jing to notice things related to, oh he had no idea, maybe medicine or biology? But Shen Jing was a nursing student, not a med school student. He didn’t have that kind of training!</p><p>&lt;Calm down o ye of burdened thoughts. I’m sure your Lang-<em> ge </em> just expects normal levels of functioning. You already know who did it anyway? And how they went about figuring it out.&gt;</p><p>“Wu-<em>jie</em>,” Shen Jing choked out with hardship, “That’s all the more reason to worry. If I don’t do it properly, it’ll look like I’m guessing at random and getting it right, at worst I’ll take away the entire team dynamic establishing effect of this arc.”</p><p>&lt;Eh, I think you’re worrying too much. Fang Xiaoxiao and He Jiangshan have established enough personality, they’re in no danger of being written out I don’t think. Do you really think they wouldn’t have come up with something else?&gt;</p><p>That was true...</p><p>“Xiaoxiao and I can go back to the victim’s family,” Ji Hualiu offered. The sound of her voice snapped him out of his thoughts. “What about you, <em> Da-shixiong</em>?”</p><p>That was a good move on her part. The victim’s family was a rich one and somewhat of a local big name around here; out of them all, she was the most equipped to talk with them without stepping on toes. Fang Xiaoxiao was sharp and could be left to roam outside while Ji Hualiu talked. Xuan Lang contemplated his choices.</p><p>“I will go to the Lower Quarters,” he said. That was the poorer area of the village, closer to the fields that stretched along the slopes of the mountains— in the original novel, Xuan Lang followed his gut and went to this area first. It had been somewhat of a shot in the dark; he’d heard that the kids there kept chattering on and on about it and weirding out some of the middle-class kids who went to school, who then told their parents about it. Really, the entire town had been thrown into a frenzy— they sent a request to Mount Song Sect, and here they were.</p><p>Bai Nian nodded. “I will take an overview.”</p><p>Which meant he was going to take an aerial stock of the situation and might try to force the <em> yao </em> out. Shen Jing hoped He Jiangshan had fun with that.</p><p>“Return for lunch so we may discuss,” Bai Nian said. “Now go.”</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>The town was a different experience on foot, Shen Jing found.</p><p>He’d left the cloak back in his room; the air wasn’t as cold as high up in Silver Forest Peak, and he was sweating a bit as his body readjusted to normal temperatures. Late in the morning, the atmosphere was loud and lively— maybe not with cheer per se, but there were a lot of people outside for a town recently plagued by the appearance of a serial killer. Then again, this was a <em> xianxia </em> town… and in general, they probably were used to all the cultivators and <em> yaoguai </em> existing in their universe. Okay, Shen Jing could understand now.</p><p>In any case, Anlin Town was a rather nice place. The two of them traced along the main streets again before taking a turn; the large road was paved and well-maintained, and the stalls that took shade under the parasol trees were overflowing with wares and fresh produce. This abundance was easy to explain: this was the Upper Quarters, where the rich and middle-class lived. As they walked down this direction the houses and stores became smaller and more weathered, but not run down. Still, the streets remained busy. There was a small lake sitting in this part of town— when Shen Jing and Xuan Lang passed by it, Shen Jing couldn’t help but notice the lively markets that lined one side of it. They crossed a bridge, the small river snaking under it meandering off into the distance— it disappeared behind the trees before reemerging in the faraway verdant terraces. The stone streets became packed dirt, and the residences that surrounded them were much simpler now.</p><p>It wasn't that long before the two of them walked into the plot— Xuan Lang pulled Shen Jing to the side in the nick of time as someone stumbled past, sprinting away with desperate gasps. A tern? A group of kids, probably in their tweens, came barrelling after with loud hoots and jeers. They slowed to a stop, seeming to be done with chasing the person, but they continued to laugh.</p><p>"The shadow monster will tear you limb by limb!" One of them hollered before laughing, sending a shiver down Shen Jing's spine. Xuan Lang frowned and pulled him closer, stepping forward in a shielding gesture. "What a goddamn loser."</p><p>"Dumbass thought he could enter our turf and— what you looking at?"</p><p>The one giving Xuan Lang the stink-eye couldn't be older than Shen Jing, but had quite the guts. Still, at Xuan Lang's flat gaze, he backed down.</p><p>"What's the point of you guys even here if no one's going to believe… Ugh, whatever. Let's go, guys."</p><p>And just like that, the group left. Xuan Lang sighed, eyes fixed on their backs until they disappeared from sight; he had a lot of thoughts, for sure, and yet what was there to say? When reading 《Through the Eye of the Storm》, Shen Jing could follow the deep and thorough thoughts of the protagonist— how much he thought things through before talking. Here, though, all Shen Jing could grasp was the hanging silence; there used to be words here, but now all that was left was guesses.</p><p>Before he could break the silence, there was a loud cry from a house further down the street. It was a child, followed by a woman's reply— "<em>Xiao</em>-Jiang, please, Mother needs to go work if we want to eat tomorrow, I don't have time to bring you along!"</p><p>The crying got louder.</p><p>“Don’t want you to die!” he wailed. Half his body was dragging on the floor; the kid buried his face in his mother’s skirt and sobbed more.</p><p>Such a sight— Shen Jing had come forward before his thoughts caught up to him, and he was now face to face with a crying 6 years old and his tired, irate mother. Shen Jing opened his mouth, trying to explain himself, but found himself bereft of words. Thankfully, Xuan Lang was close behind; before the woman could take issue with Shen Jing being a literal stranger showing up to stare at her crying child, he said, "Excuse me, we are disciples from Mount Song Sect and entrusted with handling the murder cases recently happening."</p><p>It must be either the conveniences of <em> xianxia </em> novels or Mount Song Sect's reputation over here, but the woman believed them and relaxed when Xuan Lang showed his jade pass. She looked at the child clinging to her leg and said, "Look, <em> Xiao</em>-Jiang. The cultivators have arrived and will take the cat shadow away, okay?"</p><p>Xuan Lang exchanged a look with Shen Jing. Cat shadow?</p><p><em> Xiao</em>-Jiang was wide eyed and teary, and Shen Jing dropped to meet him eye-to-eye as he handed the child a handkerchief. The boy stared at it for a moment before reaching for it, then after another moment of struggling to pull away his own grip on his mother's clothes he blew his nose. He wiped his tears away with the back of his hands, leaving streaks behind.</p><p>"Mom will still be eaten," <em>Xiao</em>-Jiang said, voice hoarse. "I don't want Mom eaten."</p><p>At that, Shen Jing turned to Xuan Lang, chewing his lips. The mother was sighing, too, but as soon as she moved her son clung to her with renewed energy— she yelped in pain and grabbed the doorway to regain balance, but before she could strike her child in the moment's anger she faltered. Lips thinning, Xuan Lang looked at Shen Jing, and Shen Jing took in a deep breath to say, "<em>Da-shixiong</em>, would you… be okay with taking uh… Auntie to where she works…? Would that make you feel better, <em> Xiao</em>-Jiang?"</p><p>Nineteen years old Xuan Lang didn't look like a gangly teenager— when <em> Xiao</em>-Jiang took an actual look at him, he finally nodded, still sniffling.</p><p>Xuan Lang let out a sigh— Shen Jing felt something closing in on his head, but it then moved away. At last, Xuan Lang said, "All right. You two go inside and close the doors, don't open it for anyone but me, okay?"</p><p>Shen Jing nodded as he pulled <em> Xiao</em>-Jiang off of his mother, feeling the small hand grip his not-that-much-larger one. The boy got to his knees, then to his feet— Shen Jing praised him in hushed voices as he himself stood up, then bent down to brush off the boy’s pants. The woman shot them both grateful looks.</p><p>“<em>Xiao</em>-Jiang, Mother will be home fine, all right? Be a good boy, don’t make trouble.”</p><p>And she hurried away, Xuan Lang in tow. After they disappeared round the bend, Shen Jing turned to <em> Xiao</em>-Jiang. "Let's go in, mm?"</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Defense, done. Self, burnt out. Won't make any promises, this fossil has just been sleeping the eternal sleep.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Shadow of a Cat</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>“Gege believes you.”</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The boy's house, being that this was the poorer district, was small. A wooden bed, table, stove— all was crammed into this main room, having only a woven bamboo partition when it <em> was </em> sectioned off. There was a door that led to the back. Shen Jing found it fine; he'd lived in a tiny apartment too, as a child, one where only the bathroom had a solid wall sectioning it off from the brewing cauldron of a living space. His mother was crushed by postpartum depression and could barely keep a job, so they lived simply and almost day to day. In fact, now that he was older, he had an inkling that it was his aunt who covered for the occasional bills that fell through…</p>
<p>He never thought of that aspect of his childhood as being all that horrible. He shared a mattress on the floor with his mother, sure, but did he need more space when he was just a toddler? It was also a reason why he got good at cooking, so there was something to be thankful about, he felt.</p>
<p>Shen Jing led the child to the table where they sat on the two available stools— a single mother, then? Well, no matter. </p>
<p>"Ah, I haven't introduced myself, have I? My name is Shen Jing, <em> Xiao</em>-Jiang, and I'm from Mount Song Sect, here because of the reports of… en. Here because of the scary things happening. The person who came with me was my <em> da-shixiong</em>, and he and my <em> shizun </em> and the rest of my martial siblings will take care of the problem. It’ll be okay, this will be taken care of soon.” Shen Jing smiled at <em> Xiao</em>-Jiang. “Say, do you want to wash your face first? It must be uncomfortable to have all that sticky, drying thing on your skin. Do you mind if I put the water to boil?”</p>
<p><em> Xiao</em>-Jiang shook his head and pointed him to where the kettle and clean water was; while Shen Jing stoked the stove into life, <em> Xiao</em>-Jiang went to the back room and washed his face. It didn’t take long; he returned with the front of his clothes half-wet, but his eyes were brighter and calmer now that he’d put that layer of distress away.</p>
<p>While the kid made himself comfortable again on the table, Shen Jing turned to Assistant 51C. "Wu-<em>jie</em>, are there any lists for uh, talking with kids about this…?"</p>
<p>&lt;This what?&gt;</p>
<p>"Fears? I'm not sure. Do you think he knows about the murders just through word of mouth or…? I think he might just be scared. Anyone would be, especially thinking about how those kids from earlier would run past talking that way..."</p>
<p>&lt;Hmm… Hold up, I've got one but it's about, err, psychological first aid. It should still be useful, though. Don't they just need to be listened to? Active listening. Reflective listening. Something along that line.&gt;</p>
<p>That was the thing. Listening to a child in an earnest, compassionate way, that was the hard part… both to execute <em> and </em>to remember. Shen Jing stayed silent as Assistant 51C poured a list distilled from several pamphlets and course notes for first responders training into his head, sorting through the examples provided too as he waited for the water to boil.</p>
<p>“<em>Gege</em>,” <em> Xiao</em>-Jiang called out. Shen Jing startled, turning to him.</p>
<p>“Yes?”</p>
<p>The boy pursed his lips, as if in thought, then shook his head again. Shen Jing decided to return to the table and rummaged through the bag He Jiangshan had given him, pulling out a new, empty book. “Wu-<em>jie</em>, can I have a stick of charcoal please? I don’t think ink is a good idea here.”</p>
<p>&lt;Done and done. Check your stocking.&gt;</p>
<p>Shen Jing, “???”</p>
<p>What stocking? Also, why stocking?</p>
<p>&lt;Nothing. Moving on.&gt;</p>
<p>Still dubious, Shen Jing turned back to putting the book and charcoal stick on the table, pushing it closer to <em> Xiao</em>-Jiang. “<em>Xiao</em>-Jiang, do you like to draw? Would you like to scribble as we talk?”</p>
<p>The boy stared back at him, slowly reaching for the stick. Still, he only held it; his eyes were still on Shen Jing, seeking for something Shen Jing wasn’t sure he knew. Their standstill was broken by the kettle’s whistle— Shen Jing gave a hesitant smile and got up, pouring the hot water into the teapot. Then, bringing it back, there was another moment of awkward, confused silence as they waited for the leaves to steep.</p>
<p>“Do you not know what to draw? What about drawing the mountains, a river, the sun?”</p>
<p>"<em>En</em>."</p>
<p>"It's okay. I have plenty of paper. Go on."</p>
<p>Slowly, as though he'd mentally worked his way through the reluctance to mar the paper, <em> Xiao</em>-Jiang started scribbling by dragging a line across the page. Shen Jing smiled; it was a mess from the get go, but it was an honest kind. <em> Xiao</em>-Jiang then dragged the line back downwards, like a V shape from Shen Jing, and oh. He really was drawing a mountain, it seemed.</p>
<p>"You were really scared of your mother getting hurt by the cat shadow," Shen Jing said as a starter. "I would be scared, too, if I know a monster is around and my mother could get eaten."</p>
<p><em> Xiao</em>-Jiang sniffed and nodded. Shen Jing poured the tea and pushed it towards him, but got a head shake. <em> Xiao</em>-Jiang looked calmer, at least, though the subject of the monster was brought up again.</p>
<p>"Are you scared of the cat shadow because it might eat your mother only, or are you scared of it eating you too, <em> Xiao</em>-Jiang?"</p>
<p>At that, the boy shook his head quickly. He readjusted his grip on the charcoal stick and scribbled a meshy orb, pressing and pressing on that spot until the paper no longer had any surface to hold more layer of that black powder. The placement wasn't where one would put the sun. "Cat shadow can't hurt kids," he suddenly said.</p>
<p>"Cat shadow can't hurt kids?" Shen Jing asked, puzzled. <em> Xiao</em>-Jiang nodded aggressively.</p>
<p>"It's not allowed to, so it can't."</p>
<p>While Shen Jing pondered over the confident statement, a knock broke the silence that had settled. He startled, but managed to scramble out of his seat with his dignity more or less intact. "Y-yeah? Who is this?"</p>
<p>"Xuan Lang," the muffled voice came from the other end.</p>
<p>Shen Jing immediately unlocked the door. "<em>Da-shixiong</em>!"</p>
<p>Xuan Lang entered with a nod, closing the door behind him. Then came the matter of sitting down— Shen Jing froze, but Xuan Lang took one look at <em> Xiao</em>-Jiang working on the paper and nodded at Shen Jing to sit back down.</p>
<p><em> Okay, Shen Jing, you can't butcher this for the kid just because you're so nervous about Lang-ge's presence </em>…</p>
<p>"Is Mom okay?" <em> Xiao </em>-Jiang suddenly piped up. Xuan Lang nodded.</p>
<p>"She will be fine. She's with all the other women, she'll be safe in a group."</p>
<p>It was, well, a blatant reassurance based on no real… Mm, this child's mother was in no danger, but <em> Xiao </em> -Jiang mulled over it before accepting Xuan Lang's words wholesale. "Good," the boy said. His expression turned serious, though it looked a bit strange on such a young face. "<em>Gege </em> and <em> Dage </em> be careful going outside alone, even if cat shadow don’t attack you.”</p>
<p>Shen Jing tilted his head. “Don’t attack us? Is it like how you said it can’t, <em> Xiao</em>-Jiang? It can’t hurt kids?”</p>
<p>It would be a stretch, then, to say that it only didn’t attack <em> children</em>. Shen Jing thought back about what Big Cat had exposited the matter of both why and who the black cat murdered. It would make sense that it wouldn’t target people who were too young to be responsible… and it wouldn’t, of course, target <em> Xiao</em>-Jiang’s mother. What got him curious— and a bit worried— was the fact that <em> Xiao </em>-Jiang seemed to know more than he ought to.</p>
<p>“<em>Xiao</em>-Jiang,” Shen Jing said slowly, “you don’t have to answer if it’s scary, but… Did you perhaps… see something?”</p>
<p>The boy gave him a glance before returning to his drawing a bit more seriously. After several moments, he glanced up again, slowing down. “<em>Gege </em> believes me… right?”</p>
<p>“<em>Gege </em> believes you.”</p>
<p>“...Mom and the big kids don’t,” <em> Xiao</em>-Jiang huffed, voice now tight with emotions. His lips trembled— Shen Jing reached out to touch his free hand, as if trying to channel the reassurance through skin contact. The boy wrapped his small hand around Shen Jing’s own small index finger; small as he was at age 14, it was still big enough to be a reassurance to a 6 years old. “Three days ago, I was playing outside in the afternoon by the river. It was uh, upstream. The downstream part was other kids’ territory, they think I’m whiny... My kite got stuck on a tree and no one nice was there so I had to get it myself, so I spent a long time trying to climb the tree, and it was getting like, really late in the afternoon. Then I finally climbed it after trying again and again and I saw that there was this, uh… I saw a big cat…”</p>
<p>Shen Jing squeezed the hand back. “It’s okay, you don’t have to rush. Drink some tea? Are you scared? Don’t be. <em> Da-shixiong </em> is here, and <em> Shizun </em> is near, too. <em> Shizun </em> is the Sword Saint of the <em> jianghu</em>, have you heard of sword saints <em> Xiao</em>-Jiang?”</p>
<p>That seemed to have calmed Xiao-Jiang down, though he shook his head. “What’s a sword saint?”</p>
<p>“It means in this world, only 5 people could beat him in a sword fight,” Xuan Lang said. His voice was soft but deep, reassuring like the draw of a deep lake. “Not only can he keep you and your mother safe, he can keep this entire city safe. It’s all right, <em> Xiao</em>-Jiang.”</p>
<p>“The cat was like, this big,” <em> Xiao</em>-Jiang pulled his hand out of Shen Jing’s hold to spread it as far apart as his small body would allow, “and it was jumping down with a big, fat man in dark green clothing in its mouth. It was almost sunset… and it was under the tree, I think. I don’t remember. But I think… the cat ate the man?”</p>
<p>Oh. Oh no. This poor child was a witness to a murder?</p>
<p>Even Xuan Lang was alarmed by this new development. “Were you the only one who saw this, <em> Xiao</em>-Jiang?”</p>
<p>The boy blinked, then shook his head. “I’m not making it up! Ask Xin-<em>jie </em> from the noodles stall down the street! She saw the cat too. But the big kids are mean to her, and they always make fun of her. But she saw it, I swear! She saw it when she was going to meet her friend after class!”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I was going to have a long author's note about some things about the direction this novel will take, but I've decided to let the work speak for itself. The original plot of Through the Eye of the Storm will more or less happen, but know that the core of the novel so far-- connection, support, warmth-- won't go anywhere; that much is assured.</p>
<p>Anyway, I can't remember if I linked this before, but <a href="https://twitter.com/gegeenthusiast/status/1302280949292437505?s=19">meme</a>?</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Promise of Noodle</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Feeling his heart sour a bit, Shen Jing only hummed in answer.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was two hours before Shen Jing and Xuan Lang left the house, expression curated thoughtfulness. Once they were far enough away, though, Shen Jing collapsed into distress and worry, while Xuan Lang looked contemplative.</p>
<p>“It’s awful, it’s awful, it’s awful,” Shen Jing said to Assistant 51C. “It’s awful, a child that age witnessing murder?”</p>
<p>As <em> Xiao</em>-Jiang grew more trusting of them, he spilled more and more, at times revisiting a previous description to add onto it as he more freely accessed his memory of what he’d seen. It turned out that it wasn’t just him or the girl down the street; be it through rumor or direct witnessing, the kids here <em> really </em> did invent a game that seemed to imitate the grisly murder. And it, of course, terrified <em> Xiao</em>-Jiang.</p>
<p>But the child was resilient, despite it all— knowing that the two cultivators in front of him believed what he said, he seemed to be as relaxed as one could be as he recounted everything, scribbling on the pages as he talked. There was no more hesitation about wasting the paper; he flipped to a new page as soon as the old one got too crowded, and when his palm grew too sweaty he let go of the charcoal stick to wipe it off on his clothes before Shen Jing caught him and wiped it with a handkerchief instead.</p>
<p>And now they were leaving; at first Shen Jing offered to take the kid back with them until his mother came home, but he said he shouldn’t leave the house, so they could only let it be. Instead, Xuan Lang promised that he would walk his mother back home later— that seemed to put the child’s worries to rest.</p>
<p>&lt;At least you did well enough with the kid, he’s visibly more relaxed now,&gt; Assistant 51C tried to reassure. &lt;And you managed to suppress your anxiety to take care of him, that’s some good mom friend override. If you’re still worried, then I’d say you can read up more on the subject and get yourself educated for next time it happens.&gt;</p>
<p>Feeling his heart sour a bit, Shen Jing only hummed in answer.</p>
<p>Xuan Lang had led the way; after fifteen minutes of walking, Shen Jing realized that they weren’t heading back the way they came. Still, he only stole a glance— if Xuan Lang had other business in mind before they returned for lunch, then Shen Jing had no problems. This <em> da-shixiong </em> of his only walked, though, without saying a word, weaving them round the backstreets of this town. </p>
<p>It would be anxiety inducing, but Shen Jing was feeling a bit too tired to be anxious…</p>
<p>Not long after, Shen Jing realized that they were back on the main street— that was, the area that circled the small lake, the one with the stalls and restaurants.</p>
<p>And then… Xuan Lang went into one of the restaurants.</p>
<p>It wasn’t a crowded one, as it seemed that it was the tail-end of the usual lunch hour— a good number of guests were rising from their seats and leaving to get back to work. Shen Jing stepped to the side as he waited for them to walk past, Xuan Lang turning to watch him. Once a group of five left, he led Shen Jing deeper into the restaurant, picking a quiet corner. Shen Jing chewed on his bottom lip as he sat down.</p>
<p>“<em>Da-shixiong</em>, is this where…”</p>
<p>“No,” Xuan Lang said. Before the waitress could come over, he said in a low voice, “The beef noodle is decent.”</p>
<p>Shen Jing paused, trying to process the words. No what? But before he could think about it, the young waitress was beside their table already, full of energy as she rattled off the menu. Shen Jing blankly stared at the wood and tracing lines on the grains as her words flowed into one ear and out of the other, each syllable moving too fast for him to grasp. Xuan Lang, though, didn’t seem to have any problems. He looked at Shen Jing.</p>
<p>“Spicy or not?”</p>
<p>That made Shen Jing look up. “Uh… spicy?”</p>
<p>“Very or mild?”</p>
<p>“Mild…”</p>
<p>With a nod, Xuan Lang passed on the orders— the noodles. Well, all right then… Silence fell upon their table as the waitress, realizing that Xuan Lang wasn’t about to talk any more, left to pass their order to the kitchens. Shen Jing gambled and pulled his hands up, letting them rest on the surface; Xuan Lang didn’t seem to take notice, instead pulling out his copy of the case book, going through the details once again. </p>
<p>“Wu-<em>jie</em>, why are we eating here?”</p>
<p>&lt;I don’t know, I’m not your <em> da-shixiong.</em>&gt;</p>
<p>Well. Fair enough. “Then can I get more of the, uh… I don’t know what it’s called…”</p>
<p>While talking to <em> Xiao</em>-Jiang about the children in the area, Assistant 51C had been busy, too, inserting some bits of information she gathered in real time in response to the line of conversation. And Shen Jing had to admit, his perception of the kids who seemed to be a bit aggressive and violent had softened; even through word of mouth witnessing violence was hard on a child, and play was one way of channeling and processing experiences that adults might not believe them on. <em> Xiao</em>-Jiang looked particularly pitiful because his response was, in comparison, soft, but it didn’t mean that those kids weren’t affected either. No adults have asked them and believed the answers they gave, Shen Jing was certain. And though this was a conjured world, constructed out of the bare bones of a mere novel...</p>
<p>&lt;Oh, you mean about handling kids with trauma? Long-term or short-term? I think the company has documents on that but they’re two different things, and they’re both on the long side. If you wanna go through them, I’d say you can get to it once you get back to the mountain and have some free time. But here, I’ll put it into your journal.&gt;</p>
<p>Two clacks— the food had arrived. Xuan Lang helped pull over the bowl and said, in a low voice, “Don’t think about it too hard. This will be resolved soon.”</p>
<p>“...En.”</p>
<p>The noodle was piping hot, which was always a thrill, but as he dug in, Shen Jing couldn’t help but notice that it wasn’t as brilliantly rich in flavor as he was expecting from such a broth. It lacked edge, in a word; though it was still nice to eat, Shen Jing couldn’t help but fixate on that thought, enough that Xuan Lang actually spoke up.</p>
<p>“I’ll take you to a place with better noodles at the foot of Mount Song.”</p>
<p>Shen Jing straightened up. “A-ah, no, it’s fine <em> Da-shixiong</em>! I just… Ah, it’s okay, I can cook.”</p>
<p>Xuan Lang raised his eyebrows. “Oh?”</p>
<p>“I can cook. I’ll… make something for you and the others?”</p>
<p>Of course Shen Jing could cook. His mother didn’t like to, and when he moved to live with his aunt, she was even worse— she both didn’t care for it and didn’t have time for it. They lived off of food delivery every day, until Shen Jing was around eleven and started cooking on his own. After several months he was better than the catering, and so they stopped  that.</p>
<p>Cooking was nice. His lunchbox wasn’t so pretty that it was eye-catching, but things could look tasty regardless of presentation, and sometimes some of his classmates would ask for a bite. And he wasn’t too opposed to sharing— thankfully, the class rep then was nice enough to growl and tell off the others when they were demanding too much, saying that they could only have a taste <em> after </em> Shen Jing had his share of his own lunch. In any case, long story short, Shen Jing had 8 years to hone his skill, and it was a skill he was happy to improve.</p>
<p>Xuan Lang looked a bit surprised, but then he smiled. “If you do, I will let the kitchens know.”</p>
<p>The restaurant grew more and more empty as they ate, and the two of them resumed their silence, even once they were done and Xuan Lang paid for the meal. Once outside, he led the way again— this time out to the riverbank <em> Xiao</em>-Jiang mentioned.</p>
<p>“Most of the people of the Lower Quarters of Anlin Town are farmers, and so they would be busy with the fields on the other side of the town,” Xuan Lang suddenly said. Shen Jing blinked as he turned to him. “Upper Quarters, many of the people would either have other work, or the children would have school. We didn’t pass by it, but the school is not too far from the lake.”</p>
<p>Shen Jing tried to follow his train of thought, but he wasn’t sure where it was leading. “Is <em> Da-shixiong </em> trying to… that most people wouldn’t be by the riverbank?”</p>
<p>“Mm. It’s not a particularly picturesque river, and though the current is not too fast, it’s a river that sometimes would swallow anyone unsuspecting, as it can get rather murky some days. Some people try to fish, but this isn’t the best place for that either.”</p>
<p>Honestly, Shen Jing was trying to recall how Xuan Lang knew about all this. “Why?”</p>
<p>A chuckle. “There are rice fields downstream. Flooded rice fields are ideal places for growing fish.”</p>
<p>Oh! And the fish would naturally gravitate towards where food was. Even if some escaped, it might not go too far, unless it had something to do with migration patterns. Shen Jing got it now. Xuan Lang shot him a glance— it might even be an approving one.</p>
<p>It didn’t take long for them to arrive. At the edge of the town, just a few feet off the paved streets, the ground dropped by about two meters— and on the lower floor short grass stretched the ten or so meters to the water’s edge. Xuan Lang was right about it being murky. The banks weren't even, too; sometimes the grass would give way to water, sometimes there would be a stretch of rocks and pebbles jutting out all the way to the middle of the river. Still, the sound of trickling water remained clear, and in the tapering daylight, even the dull color of it could glimmer like a thousand milky stars. Xuan Lang led Shen Jing down a small, makeshift staircase carved to the side of the cliff-like drop.</p>
<p>“<em>Da-shixiong</em>—”</p>
<p>“Ehh? That’s <em> Da-shixiong</em>. <em> Da-shixiong</em>! <em> Xiao-shidi</em>! Here!”</p>
<p>The two of them turned. “Jiangshan?”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>mmm......... noodle</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0012"><h2>12. Pooling Together the Results</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>&lt; This kid works in incomprehensible ways. &gt;</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>He Jiangshan was in the air, seemingly standing on nothing— upon a second look, though, Shen Jing noticed something transparent like a glow. Extension of Bai Nian’s sword? Said man was right by, about one meter away from his disciple. His eyes glanced at Xuan Lang and Shen Jing and nodded, but then went back to what he was looking at— downstream the river, scanning for something.</p>
<p>"Where were you two? We had lunch without you. Did you get lunch on your own? That's not fair!"</p>
<p>Bai Nian might’ve tired of his disciple screaming at such close proximity, so he descended and set He Jiangshan loose. Leaping the last two meters or so down, He Jiangshan “hehe”d as he walked over. Xuan Lang fixed him a flat look. “We finished late,” Xuan Lang said. “Did you find something?”</p>
<p>"I found something indeed," He Jiangshan said with pride, the look sliding off him like water off a duck’s back. He reached for Shen Jing’s wrist before his hand was brushed off by Xuan Lang, so he settled on placing it on Shen Jing’s shoulder instead, tugging him upstream and away from the banks— it was to the line of trees dotting this side of the river. "Here, come check. There's been these odd breaks in some branches, like someone used it as a spring-off point. <em>Shizun</em> and I noticed some broken roof tiles on the victim’s neighbor’s house, then some more… it was like a trail.”</p>
<p>This was indeed what He Jiangshan found in the story itself. Shen Jing was wondering if the cracked branch was all he was going to see, which while it was an important clue in this case, it needed a bit more to sew the thing together. Looking up, Shen Jing noticed that one of the sturdier branches higher up was sagging a bit, swaying dangerously up and down when He Jiangshan shook the tree to make the damage clearer— it was easier to see from a few meters away, but there indeed was a widening crack where the branch met the trunk.</p>
<p>"<em>But</em>," He Jiangshan said, pushing himself away from the tree and holding up a finger, "But, then I saw this."</p>
<p>He led them further up to a large tree perhaps ten or so meters away. On the bark at about head height was a thin, deep scratch— and it was darkened. "At first I thought nothing of it, but when I dabbed at it with a damp cloth it smeared onto the fabric, and only then can you smell that it's blood."</p>
<p>&lt;This kid works in incomprehensible ways.&gt;</p>
<p>Shen Jing had to agree. First of all, how did he chance upon the <em> thought </em>of checking tree barks for scratches, and to sniff at them until he found blood?</p>
<p>“And clearly that tree was suspect, so I climbed it? It’s hard to see from down here, <em> Xiao-shidi</em>, are you fine with grappling up a tree? Here, like this.”</p>
<p>Of all things in this world, He Jiangshan pulled out a grappling hook. Standing a bit further back and listening attentively, Bai Nian’s eye twitched while Xuan Lang’s expression distorted a bit at that. Before anyone could stop him, though, He Jiangshan threw the hook over onto a sturdy limb, tugged, and turned to Shen Jing in satisfaction as he pulled the other closer. “Here, just grab onto the—”</p>
<p>“No need for that,” Xuan Lang intervened, pulling out Bishan. “Just get on the sword, <em> Xiao-shidi</em>.”</p>
<p>“Aww, <em> Da-shixiong</em>! But this is nice practice for if <em> Xiao-shidi </em> ever needs it! It might be some time before <em> Xiao-shidi </em> is ready to go to the Sword Mound, you know. Diversity of experiences is fantastic. Shouldn’t we teach him good things like that?”</p>
<p>Shen Jing stood in the middle. Paralyzed, he looked like he was on the verge of toppling over from fight-or-flight mode and all its tensions— in the end, Xuan Lang sighed and turned to Bai Nian. “<em>Shizun</em>?”</p>
<p>“Sword.”</p>
<p>He Jiangshan: :(</p>
<p>And just like that, the youngest disciple of Sword Saint Bai Nian recovered at a speed visible to the naked eye. He Jiangshan didn’t make a fuss, though, and hopped onto Bishan too to show Shen Jing what he’d found. It was only when they were three meters up in the air that Shen Jing thought to ask, <em> why am I the one he’s showing this to? </em></p>
<p>“There,” He Jiangshan said, nodding at a place where it seemed like a branch was in the process of growing. The shifting, dappled shadows of the leaves swaying to the breeze made Shen Jing need a second look, but he spotted what was being pointed out to him.</p>
<p>“Threads. Someone fell and his clothes got snagged.”</p>
<p>They returned to the ground, He Jiangshan hopping off Bishan before it touched the ground. “Yeah. Which is why I somewhat wonder about the mark in the tree and the blood. It’s a bit high and I don’t know why. Do you suppose it makes sense that the person was brought here but fell? What do you think made the mark? It looks a bit big to be a sword, it looks wrong if one proposes an axe made that… <em> Yao</em>? Claws?”</p>
<p>“<em>Yao</em>,” Xuan Lang said. “Cat-like, if we take <em> Xiao</em>-Jiang’s words to be true. We might not know for sure until we ask the other girl, though; <em> Xiao</em>-Jiang’s mother explained to me that her son might’ve mixed things up with the stray cat that liked to sit in their yard and keep him company.”</p>
<p>“Huh, okay. Who’s <em> Xiao</em>-Jiang, though?” He Jiangshan, decidedly not small, asked as he pointed at himself.</p>
<p>"<em>Xiao-shidi </em> was comforting a child who reported that he and several other children might've seen the murders," Xuan Lang replied, ignoring the gesture. Both Bai Nian and He Jiangshan stared at them before their eyes lingered on Shen Jing. "It was a bit of a chance meeting. If it weren't for <em> Xiao-shidi</em>, I'm not sure the child would've talked in such detail.”</p>
<p>They fell silent after that, but then Shen Jing realized that they were looking at him. “Uh? Oh… It’s not really much. <em> Xiao</em>-Jiang also said that kids can’t be hurt, and <em> Da-shixiong </em> is apparently still in that category… I mean, the age group where he can’t be hurt, not that he’s a child, I’m sorry! But uh, yes, it just sounds like it has a distinct group of people it’s targeting.”</p>
<p>For a moment he worried that he might’ve revealed too much, breaking the much-needed introductory arc, but then he remembered that the ages and background of the victims all were laid out in the book they were each given. All the words he said would be easy to deduce; the victims were above the age of 30, and Xuan Lang was far under it. <em>Xiao</em>-Jiang’s mother looked old enough that she might pass for a thirty years old, though— not because of her features aging quickly, but because it could be hard to tell the difference based on looks alone along that age range.</p>
<p>“They’re all around early to mid thirties, yeah.” He Jiangshan nodded. “Do you think something happened that led them to be the target? Ooor, say… That they did something?”</p>
<p>All from middle class or well-off families, they all would’ve gone to the same school— they all could’ve been friends, so the connection between the victims were there. The question was, for what?</p>
<p>Bai Nian turned to glance at the town. “Ask Hualiu.”</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>They returned to the inn sometime after three o’clock, though that was based on what Shen Jing saw on the journal interface. Assistant 51C excused herself, saying that she needed to go AFK for several hours Shen Jing’s time; there was an AI-run backup system in her place, though, and Shen Jing could request a person to take over if he needed it. Shen Jing only nodded, stealing the opportunity when the others were distracted with their own things to take one of the cakes sitting untouched on the plates.</p>
<p>Ji Hualiu and Fang Xiaoxiao entered not long after; judging from their mannerisms, they must’ve found something too.</p>
<p>After sitting down, Ji Hualiu poured Bai Nian tea. Bai Nian nodded and said, “You first.”</p>
<p>“Earlier today, we walked in knowing that though everyone was certain something had happened to the victims, they haven’t found any bodies,” she started. Shen Jing stopped his munching, feeling like the honeyed cake lost all taste. It wasn’t that he was apprehensive of just <em> corpses</em>, all right? He couldn’t stop thinking about <em>days-old</em> decayed bodies. “Well, they have… found remains.”</p>
<p>Shen Jing rushed to gulp some tea to get his food down— he didn’t want to spit it out by accident.</p>
<p>Actually, Shen Jing was well aware that nurses tended to see a lot more… grossness than doctors did. Surgeons and ER physicians might see grotesque things, but what nurses faced were the more… mundane, less shocking ones, as far as he’d heard. He was still too early into his studies to internalize this, though, and his personality was never the bold sort. He had never and would not desensitize himself on his spare time.</p>
<p>But Shen Jing missed the relief in Ji Hualiu’s voice when she said, “There’s no need for us to personally inspect the body; it was only remains, as I mentioned. They identified it through what was worn.”</p>
<p>“Was it in the river?” Xuan Lang asked.</p>
<p>Ji Hualiu nodded. “They found the body downstream, several <em> li </em> down the river, beyond the rice fields. As it was, someone had built and abandoned a small, old dam, and the body was found there. From the report, the state of it… was unrecognizable in any case.”</p>
<p>“Unrecognizable?” Bai Nian asked.</p>
<p>“...The head was missing, and the body had decayed too much from being in the water for so long.”</p>
<p>Silence fell. Among them, bar Bai Nian, the only one with enough life experience outside of the sect grounds and all its safety was Xuan Lang; in the months he was roaming the lands with his <em> shizun</em>, he had seen and done many things. The rest, however, had only studied autopsy and the human body in this sense in passing. Much like any other compulsory schooling, what they were taught in classes fall short of what was actually needed to pull off work. Now Shen Jing was imagining a cultivation university.</p>
<p>“...But why the river?” Fang Xiaoxiao finally asked.</p>
<p>He Jiangshan rambled about the discussion they had by the riverside; at the end, though, Xuan Lang added, “There were no signs of digging nearby, there were no signs of the victim being taken elsewhere, was there? That meant the <em> yao </em> dropped its heavy load around that place by the river, did something to get rid of it, then went on to the Lower Quarters of the city. Unless we consider the <em> yao </em>eating the body, then the most likely guess was he discarded it into the river.”</p>
<p>And the river was murky, too; the victim could be heavy enough to sink low enough as well, and could pass through the farmlands without getting caught on things because it was too deep. Regardless of how its journey through the river was, the point was it wasn’t implausible.</p>
<p>“Why just now, though?” Fang Xiaoxiao asked, lips pursed. “They would’ve been looking for the bodies from the very start, right? If it’s just floating there…”</p>
<p>“If they don’t know where to look, it’s kinda hard for mortals to just ‘look everywhere’, yanno?” He Jiangshan said.</p>
<p>“And bodies float after about four days after death,” Shen Jing spoke up. Realizing that his voice was too loud, judging from the heads turning to look at him, he said in a smaller voice, “Upon death, the bact— the uh… Gases in the body would… expand… Uh, in short, it makes the body buoyant enough to rise to the surface. But the important part is, I guess, the rest might not be at that stage yet?”</p>
<p>That was a butchering of biology. Shen Jing wasn’t even sure that was passable in terms of what the people here would believe— though traditional medicine and its founding beliefs permeated societal understanding of health in pervasive ways, one, Shen Jing didn’t know if it’d fly in an ancient, cultivation setting given how surface level his understanding was, because two, he’d grown up with a largely-western-medicine-based doctor for a mother. </p>
<p>“You read quite a lot of strange books,” Ji Hualiu commented. She sounded a bit amused, though she was still serious. “It could also be that the body didn’t pass through the river entirely. In any case, they’re still looking for the rest. If we’re lucky, they’ll float to the surface somewhere without us having to comb through the riverbed.”</p>
<p>Shen Jing’s voice this time was even smaller; He Jiangshan almost didn’t catch it, given his cultivation level and hearing sensitivity— “Or… some of them… the fish… could’ve taken a nibble…”</p>
<p>Everyone, “......”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>sat . may...? have sth</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0013"><h2>13. A Tortoiseshell Cat</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>“Is not a horse! It’s cat!”</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“How about you, <em> Shixiong</em>?”</p><p>It turned out that Fang Xiaoxiao had just been following Ji Hualiu the entire time, so they skipped right to Xuan Lang. Xuan Lang mulled over his words for a moment before summarizing, “<em>Xiao-shidi </em> coaxed out testimony from a child confirming that it was a <em> yao</em>, likely to be in the shape of a cat. The child also mentioned that he saw one of the murders happening by the river, which was confirmed by what He Jiangshan found; some tracks indicate that the <em> yao </em> disposed of the body there, which are now being found. The question is, what next?”</p><p>“Catch it, of course,” Fang Xiaoxiao said. “What else is there to do? It’d solve everything.”</p><p>Shen Jing, “......” Well, she’s not wrong…</p><p>“What about the behavior?” Bai Nian suddenly asked. Everyone straightened up.</p><p>Right. Everyone had been talking about who might be doing this, but what about how to catch it? He Jiangshan said, “The reports say that the victims were reported missing in the evenings, some in the morning.”</p><p>“That’s when their families thought something was off,” Fang Xiaoxiao countered. “They could be dead long before then.”</p><p>“Other than when, it’s also important to think of who and where,” Ji Hualiu added. “If it has no intentions of coming out again after this, then we might need to find it in its hiding place, which might be easier said than done.”</p><p>“<em>Xiao</em>-Jiang saw it happen around dusk,” Shen Jing said in a small voice. “It might be then… And also, what relationship do the victims have in depth?”</p><p>That sent everyone else reading their case books again, while Ji Hualiu went deep in thought. Bai Nian only watched them, waiting and watching to see how his disciples would resolve this matter.</p><p>"Among the five victims, they no longer have much in common after growing into adulthood," Ji Hualiu said in the end, looking up with a serious expression. Shen Jing felt a sense of familiarity from the quiet sharpness in her eyes, sending a shiver down his spine. "When they do have business dealings, it's often done without much fanfare or through representatives, and only two were active in their family business anyhow. One of them became fascinated by cultivation, but he had no potential and so ended up hoarding what spiritual treasures he could find sold by a wandering cultivator. It did cause some family strife, but nothing severe. The fourth faced a change in fortune and lost his inheritance, but turned back around when he found success in a restaurant he started. He'd dedicated his life to the restaurant and his wife and child after. The fifth was… a very beloved eldest son of his family."</p><p>The last sentence was said with a hesitant politeness; it seemed like what Ji Hualiu wanted to say was, <em> an old spoiled brat</em>.</p><p>"If they weren't not really connected to each other in adulthood, then it's probably something they did back when they were young?" He Jiangshan tilted his head. In his hands, the book was bent into a roll and back the other way, over and over again; Shen Jing doubted He Jiangshan noticed his fidgeting. "Unless they secretly still kept in contact and none of their family knew…"</p><p>"Simpler explanations are often correct," Bai Nian said.</p><p>Realization dawned in Xuan Lang's eyes. "It <em> was </em> something in their youth. <em> Xiao</em>-Jiang mentioning how we were too young— this triggering event might have happened before we were born."</p><p>“But what is this event?” He Jiangshan asked.</p><p>"Two ways to get an answer on why," Xuan Lang said, rising to his feet. The rest, knowing that the current discussion was over, stood up as well. "Pour over this, or catch the yao and get the answer from the source."</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><hr/><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>They rushed an early dinner; Fang Xiaoxiao in particular, who was then bribed with the promise of three cages of dumplings the next day if she didn't mind the lackluster supper— they were short on time, if they were to keep an eye out for the yao. With such an early prowling hour, this was a bit sudden, but they rigged up a system.</p><p>"I'll go with <em> Xiao-shidi </em> to the Lower Quarters," Xuan Lang said. "It's possible that the yao will be there, especially given what <em> Xiao</em>-Jiang said about cats. Xiaoxiao, you're the quickest between us all, you have the best chance at a chase if you stumble upon it."</p><p>"I'll have her in the air," Bai Nian acquiesced. Fang Xiaoxiao lit up.</p><p>"Hualiu and Jiangshan can make sure no one else gets hurt in this Upper Quarters," Xuan Lang said. "If we can't catch it today it's fine, but we should strive for no more victims."</p><p>Everyone nodded.</p><p>And so Shen Jing found himself back at <em> Xiao</em>-Jiang's house, afternoon's red dyeing the house with desolate melancholy. He stood outside as Xuan Lang talked with the mother in a quiet voice, but <em> Xiao</em>-Jiang seemed to have heard them anyway and barrelled to the door, slamming into his mother’s thigh to peek round it and give Shen Jing puppy eyes. “Jing-<em>gege</em>!”</p><p>&lt;Aww, what did I come back to?&gt;</p><p>“Wu-<em>jiejie</em>?”</p><p>&lt;Sorry there kiddo, had some stuff to resolve. So what’s up?&gt;</p><p>Before Shen Jing could answer her, though, Xuan Lang turned to him and nodded at him to come inside, and <em> Xiao</em>-Jiang was on to him.</p><p>Only a small lamp was lit to illuminate the entire house. The dimness strained his eyes a bit, enough to leave the moving shadows on the wall a bit too alive for his liking, but Shen Jing tried not to think too hard about it and diverted his attention to <em> Xiao</em>-Jiang instead. The boy looked a lot better; he seemed to have put away whatever worries he had earlier in the day, and was just showing off his bamboo and straw horse toy.</p><p>“Is not a horse! It’s cat!”</p><p>Sitting beside the kid, Shen Jing blinked. “Ah, are these… the ears?”</p><p>It was two small triangular… pillows? Pillow wasn’t the best word, but they were two triangle-shaped fabric with chopped up straw or something akin to it inside, to keep its shape. They were awkwardly sewn through with a thick thread, one that wrapped round the head— each ear was slipping off their intended places and it definitely did not look like ears at all, but that was the nature of abstract art. Shen Jing rolled with it.</p><p><em> Xiao</em>-Jiang nodded, moving one of the ears back and retying the thread that fixed it in place. “It’s Sansan!”</p><p>Xuan Lang and Shen Jing showed up right as the two were about to eat dinner; not long after he said that, <em> Xiao</em>-Jiang was called to eat, while the two of them drank tea and Xuan Lang put out the assortment of cakes they prepared at the inn for this. It was clearly a good day for <em> Xiao</em>-Jiang— as the boy dragged Shen Jing out to the back, his mother said with a tired smile, “I’m sorry ‘bout him, he’s not usually this… active.”</p><p>Noises from the back, mostly that of a muffled conversation; the two adults inside turned to look at the door, each preoccupied with their own thoughts. Soon after, however, Shen Jing and <em> Xiao</em>-Jiang returned inside, the latter disappointed.</p><p>“Mom… Sansan isn’t here again today.”</p><p>“Cats are like that,” his mother said with fond exasperation. “I’m sure he’ll be back. He’s been around for such a long time.”</p><p>Xuan Lang shot Shen Jing a look, and he explained, “A tortoiseshell cat.”</p><p>“He’s big,” <em> Xiao</em>-Jiang explained, putting the toy cat on the table and extending its figure with his hands to show just how big. “And really nice. Sometimes when one of the big kids is playing too mean, he comes in and scratches them so they stop.”</p><p>This time, Xuan Lang and Shen Jing exchanged a look.</p><p>“Did it?” <em> Xiao</em>-Jiang’s mother said, humoring him. “I think Sansan’s grandfather was like that too. I remember a cat like that when I was a child. I haven’t thought about that cat in so long, but it’s nice to know that he had offsprings.”</p><p>“Cat like that?” Xuan Lang asked.</p><p>The mother leaned back, pursing her lips in thought. “Ah, just a tortoiseshell cat, but it was a very obedient one. It wasn’t just me who found it; some of my childhood friends and I found this kitten injured and we nursed it back to health, sneaking out whatever scraps we all could get for it. It stuck around for years. After, ah… Well, it gets quite dark.”</p><p>The look she gave was aimed at Xuan Lang, but Shen Jing understood it well. <em> Let’s talk about this once Xiao-Jiang is asleep</em>.</p><p>Very well. They were here for other reasons, anyway.</p><p>&lt;Things are developing well, I assume?&gt;</p><p>Shen Jing almost startled at the sudden voice— it had been some time, and he’d forgotten that Wu-<em> jie </em> had returned. “Yes… It’s quite different, but it’s still ongoing.”</p><p>&lt;Yeah, this is why I said not to worry too much. Early in the development of the plot program, it’s pretty much necessary to follow certain plot sections closely, but nowadays it’s gotten good at extrapolating the core of the arc or mission and just embed all the clues and necessary character developments— if applicable— and let it develop on its own. You’re doing fine, see?&gt;</p><p>“...Yeah.”</p><p>It was a lively day for <em> Xiao</em>-Jiang, and as much as he wanted to, he couldn’t keep himself up for long. Soon enough, he was asleep, lying on his back and occasionally snoring softly. The other three were back on the table, bathed in darkness; the only light had been left there near <em> Xiao</em>-Jiang, who still couldn’t sleep well in the dark alone.</p><p>“It’s been years, and I suppose most of us who remember it… well, it’s just me now,” the mother said, wistful and melancholic. “Ah-Mei already moved away to another town to marry years ago. But back when I was about seven, Ah-Mei and I used to play with this boy named Jiang Ze, we called him <em> Xiao</em>-Ze… He was this weak, sickly kid, but he was smart and didn’t mind playing with girls. He was the one who picked up the kitten I mentioned earlier, hiding it in his house; unfortunately, an incident happened…”</p><p>Xuan Lang tensed as Shen Jing felt his body go cold. He’d read this story in the novel, but here, in this small, dark house talking with a woman who actually knew the original victim, it felt more…</p><p>Real. It was a real person who died in this cruel manner, and for that moment, Shen Jing’s heart constricted with such pain that he could understand why this mission plot evolved the way it did— understood in more ways than simply empathizing with motivations in a book.</p><p>“He fell into the river and drowned. They only found his body far, far downstream, deep in the woods, and even then they wouldn’t have found it if it weren’t for some strange activities in the forests… I… I’ve always felt like things weren’t simply that… he fell into the river, but you see.” <em> Xiao</em>-Jiang’s mother’s face twisted in bitterness. “I’ve always suspected that something wasn’t right, but Ah-Mei always cautioned me against speaking out about it. She suspected too, of course. But just two young girls whose friend just died; who’d believe us, and who’d believe us enough to try to investigate? We were all just poor children…”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>If you missed it, I put out a chapter on the 17th but it's on the extras entry in this series. AO3 already screws up the ordering a bit with Feb Rain in terms of numbering (thanks to the fact that Feb Rain has a prologue), so adding random extras would only make this entire thing more chaotic... Anyway, that's all I wanna say erjlthesjrhtjh</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0014"><h2>14. Another Approach</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Don't you miss pulling one-nighters to catch up on reviews for Biochemistry finals?</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Xuan Lang's expression stiffened. He looked like he wanted to say something but couldn't— after shooting Shen Jing a glance that he wasn't quick enough to catch, he folded his arms on the table. "Do you remember who was involved?"</p><p>The mother looked distracted for a long moment as she seemed to think back, but after a while she slowly shook her head. “I… It’s been so long, and I didn’t know who they were anyway, because we weren't allowed to get too close to them. All I know is that they were wealthy children. Otherwise, this matter… Thinking about it, maybe there could be a connection. I know the victims were all from the wealthy households, but I’m too busy to wonder about it. But how could it be that someone is committing murders over something that happened so long ago? Hardly anyone cared about what happened to <em> Xiao</em>-Ze, they don't even remember him now.”</p><p>In his heart, Shen Jing wondered, ‘<em>you don’t pay attention to something so horrible?’ </em> But after thinking about it some more, he understood. Growing up, he took part in keeping his own house running, and he missed a lot of big social 'events' at school. Scandals, rumors— who had time for that when he had to keep up with grades and what to get on the weekly grocery run when they had a limited budget? This town might appear small, but if <em> Xiao</em>-Jiang’s mother was a single mother trying to keep her family afloat, even serial murders that happened on the other part of town might not affect her daily life enough for it to truly matter.</p><p>But more importantly, the real tragedy was in her last sentence.</p><p>"Maybe some people were in a bind then just like you were, Auntie," he murmured. He had no idea if this was going to be soothing, but Shen Jing just wanted to say it. "Sometimes the world is…"</p><p>She laughed nervously. "Is it bad if I somewhat wish the two things are related? ...Ah, what am I saying. That's still awful. It's not a justice that would do anything…"</p><p>Biting his lips in awkward silence, Shen Jing stared at the table.</p><p>“Wu-<em> jie </em>, where is the cat now?”</p><p>&lt;It caught wind of the fact that there are cultivators in town looking for it and is now laying low.&gt;</p><p>In the novel, things unfolded a bit more slowly; Xuan Lang didn't try to comfort <em> Xiao</em>-Jiang and only took his cries as a clue. They collected a lot more testimonies from the wealthy families and had a construct in their minds about what had happened. After that, they lulled the yao into a false sense of security and startled it out of hiding whereupon Fang Xiaoxiao's speed proved to win the day. When the yao told its story, their perceptions were shattered…</p><p>This time they had a good idea what the creature was and a solid hint as to why they committed these murders, but not how to proceed.</p><p>Xuan Lang sighed as he rose. "Thank you again for your time."</p><p>They left. The night was chilly but still within the refreshing threshold. Rather than the physical coldness, Shen Jing was more preoccupied with how to inch this along— now that they've departed from the plot, there was little they could do other than waste a night, it seemed.</p><p>"Then what, Wu-<em>jie</em>?"</p><p>&lt;Ask your Lang-<em>ge</em>, he calls the shots, no?&gt;</p><p>But <em> asking </em> was a scary prospect. Talking was a scary prospect. Existing was a scary prospect? Shen Jing didn’t know how Xuan Lang would react if he asked a question. It might be benign, but the possibility wasn’t enough to calm him down. Thankfully, after some time, Xuan Lang looked up at the roof and turned to him.</p><p>“We’ll keep watch,” Xuan Lang said, voice low. Shen Jing gave him a terse nod. “We’re going up. Hold on.”</p><p>Wait, what?</p><p>It was a flurry of light fabric, two silhouettes and dappled moonlight: with a steady, almost practiced move, Xuan Lang pulled Shen Jing into a secure hold before jumping onto the rooftops. It wasn’t that it happened so fast it caught him off guard. It was… The jolt in his stomach and the phantom of a limb pressing against his back, the ground disappearing from beneath his feet— when they landed, Shen Jing stumbled, feeling a bit pale. A firm grip on his upper arm prevented him from moving too far and too close to the edge.</p><p>“Careful,” Xuan Lang muttered. “People are still awake.”</p><p>“Wu-<em>jie</em>,” Shen Jing croaked, “please end my life.”</p><p>&lt;Here let me steady you a bit.&gt;</p><p>“Wu-<em>jie</em>, I’m sort of scared of heights.”</p><p>&lt;Oh.&gt;</p><p>The houses in this part of town weren’t tall, but it was still a considerable height. Shutting his eyes, Shen Jing backed away step by step from the edge, tensing every time the heel of his foot bumped against something. Xuan Lang noticed, of course. Instead of saying anything, though, he stepped around Shen Jing, now in the space between him and the edge, and turned him around. After a couple steps forward, Xuan Lang gestured at him to sit down.</p><p>“It’s not all heights,” Shen Jing weakly clarified as he got down to his knees before sitting back. “But when it looks close enough like it would…”</p><p>A hand rubbed his shoulder before gripping it and letting go. “Breathe.”</p><p>“Okay.”</p><p>It was a blessing that nothing much happened after. Xuan Lang had decided on keeping a watch, especially on <em> Xiao</em>-Jiang’s house— after all, the yao was likely to be related to this family, and it might return for one reason or another. As the minutes passed, nothing happened, Shen Jing’s fears abated. The moon was bright and the sky a dome of quiet stars; in the tranquil night, the passing breeze brought the sighs and calls of insects and birds.</p><p>“Do you believe her story?”</p><p>Xuan Lang’s voice broke the silence like a cotton wad pressed upon a wound— even when done with a steady certainty and a light hand, Shen Jing jolted in surprise. Thankfully, he retained his clarity, this time. Though he was startled, Shen Jing didn’t spiral into a panic. “Yes… What reason would she have to lie?”</p><p>Xuan Lang slowly shook his head. “In general, many. Considering everything else, though, I suppose she doesn’t, not really.”</p><p>If this was a story she made up to gain something, then she wouldn’t have waited for the off-chance two young cultivators to pass by and take the initiative to calm her crying child down, then go to work anyway without first retelling her fabrications. She would’ve gone up earlier, paid more attention to the ongoing murders. Instead, she was just trying to make a living. Being a single mother with a young son was hard regardless of era— knowing full well what it entailed, Shen Jing had nothing but respect for her.</p><p>Shen Jing turned to Xuan Lang, fiddling with the hem of his robes. “By the way… <em> Da-shixiong</em>, will you tell the others about the tortoiseshell cat?”</p><p>“If you’re tasked to stay together, you have to stay together,” Xuan Lang said. Crossing his arms, he walked to the other end of the rooftops. His <em> qinggong </em> was always notable, in the novel, and he hardly made a sound— out of the main cast, Xuan Lang was the best at sneaking around. It might not be such a high bar to clear, though, given He Jiangshan's and Fang Xiaoxiao's personality. After scanning the small backyard of the houses, it seemed that he didn't spot anything. He returned to where Shen Jing was, once more not sitting down. Shen Jing stared up at him.</p><p>"Wu-<em>jie</em>, this is really going to be a stakeout isn't it?" It had only been days since Shen Jing transmigrated, but his 14-years-old body wasn't used to staying up late the same way his older body was. Cognitively speaking Shen Jing was ready to stay up until maybe 3 AM, but at age 14 his bedtime was at nine...</p><p>&lt;Don't you miss pulling one-nighters to catch up on reviews for Biochemistry finals? The sensation of caffeine coursing through your veins, along with that sugar rush from the energy drink… Feeling the onset of that cold sweat where you're trying to determine if this is because you drank too much or if it's because you're stressed chasing a deadline due at 9 in the morning. What a magical time.&gt;</p><p>Shen Jing, "......" Mother, I'm scared.</p><p>&lt;Anyway, do you need help staying up? We can do some reviewing done.&gt;</p><p>"...Of biochemistry?" It wasn't his best subject. Shen Jing was more partial to Biology than Chemistry, and general human biology at that. He wasn't as interested in all the nitty-gritty details of lipid rafts and how the 5 nucleotides were aromatic.</p><p>&lt;No, please. It's been so long since I took that class I stopped counting the decades.&gt;</p><p>Then why did you bring up biochem and traumatize us both… Ah, whatever. After some consideration, Shen Jing decided to go through the journal notes on the world to start, then review the things in the books Bai Nian had him read. After doing this for some days, he was getting used to reviewing things in his head, imagining it like a laptop; his hand itched for a pen, but seen from outside, it only looked as though he was deep in thought.</p><p>Xuan Lang glanced at him before turning his gaze to the sky, scanning the treeline before darting back to the ground.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Time stretched dawn across the sky— the sun was not visible yet, but dark red had infiltrated the indigo of the night, and here and there the birds had started to stir. It had been a cold night, but a quiet one, too. Rubbing the exhaustion out of his eyes, Xuan Lang let out a sigh and shook the person curled up awake.</p><p>A moment of silence, a physiological shudder, then Shen Jing violently swung upright. “<em>Da-shixiong</em>! I’m sorry! I—”</p><p>“Don’t panic,” Xuan Lang shushed, eyebrows furrowing. “Everyone’s still asleep. We’re heading back.”</p><p>Even if Shen Jing was panicking, he was too disoriented to panic in full. Pushing himself up, he swayed on his feet, sleep still dragging him down— in the end, to save time, Xuan Lang grabbed him and hopped onto Bishan, flying them back to the inn. The rooms were dark still, but the two of them bumped into He Jiangshan and Ji Hualiu in the hallways, all of them stumbling into their rooms.</p><p>“Hi <em> Da-shixiong</em>, bye <em> Da-shixiong</em>,” He Jiangshan greeted, almost walking straight into his half-opened door. His grin was dopey. He looked like he might’ve had a bit too much coffee.</p><p>Resolutely ignoring him, Xuan Lang slammed his own door shut.</p><p>When Shen Jing woke up a second time, it was nine in the morning. Even the morning chill of the altitude had dissipated under the sun by now; when he saw how bright the light was that streamed through the window, he almost had a heart attack.</p><p>“Wu-<em>jie</em>?”</p><p>&lt;Good morning! You still have faint marks on your cheek from using the roof as a pillow. Just wanted to let you know, it’s been bothering me for the past few hours.&gt;</p><p>Rubbing at his cheek absentmindedly, Shen Jing sat in bed in a daze for several minutes before his brain finally went online. “<em>Shizun</em>? Everyone?”</p><p>&lt;The rest of the squirt squad are still asleep, but your <em> shizun </em> is downstairs, sitting there chilling and terrifying passersby, innkeepers and bootlickers. Wanna go get breakfast?&gt;</p><p>Squirt squad…</p><p>There was a problem, though, with going downstairs now to eat. He’d have to be with Bai Nian alone, and Shen Jing fell asleep at, embarrassingly, 11 PM last night… Would he be disappointed? After all, Shen Jing was supposed to at least help Xuan Lang where he could. Yes he was only fourteen, but nineteen wasn’t much older and the gap shouldn’t be that big. Shen Jing was 19 too, after all.</p><p>In the end, though, he gave up. “I’m so hungry I want to cry,” he mumbled as he climbed off.</p><p>Getting breakfast was a more mortifying ordeal than it truly was, given the fact that nothing happened and yet Shen Jing was walking on random eggshells, but reprieve soon came. Before the brunch was delivered, Ji Hualiu came downstairs and ordered something, too. And like that, the meal passed in silence.</p><p>It was only at noon that the other three woke up, all at varying degrees of famished. Suddenly, the quiet of the late breakfast was broken by the noise of their late lunch— without skipping a beat, the conversation jumped straight into the matters at hand. Though a spread fit to be called a feast was laid out on their table, courtesy of the families hosting the Mount Song cultivators, half the people there weren't even paying attention to the taste anymore.</p><p>“So you’re saying this entire thing is related to a bullying gone wrong over a decade ago?” He Jiangshan asked, eyebrows furrowed. Reaching forward, he clipped himself some more chicken and vegetables. “Tortoiseshell cat, huh.”</p><p>“It’s just the most likely story so far,” Xuan Lang said.</p><p>“Yeah, sure,” Fang Xiaoxiao said, words rattling out in a rush, “but what do we do with that? We can’t possibly hunt down a cat in this entire town just like that with just the five of us. This isn’t a dumb, normal cat either.”</p><p>Bai Nian nodded. "Think it through."</p><p>"If they intend to strike again, their targets must be someone in the rich district," He Jiangshan replied, leaning back. Putting his chopsticks down, he crossed his arms. When Fang Xiaoxiao gestured at a dish as if to ask if he wanted more, he shook his head. With glee, she ate it. "But do they intend to? How many people were involved in that incident? Should we go ask?"</p><p>He looked at Shen Jing at that, but Shen Jing shook his head. "I'm… not sure if she knows. She wasn't there when it happened, and she only said that the victims so far had been rich children who used to harass them. I suppose we could still ask… <em> Da-shixiong </em> knows where…?"</p><p>Shen Jing trailed off before a full context could be drawn; it took a moment for Xuan Lang to understand what he was saying. "I know where she works, yes."</p><p>He Jiangshan, "......" So many ways to interpret <em> Xiao-shidi </em>'s sentence, frankly that was not one that came to mind.</p><p>The sun was slipping off its highest point, the food was mostly gone. They were running out of ideas, too, though it might very well be post-meal sleepiness— everyone fell silent. When a server came back in with chilled desserts, Ji Hualiu straightened out the clothes of her lap. "I may have an idea… but it would be, ah."</p><p>Xuan Lang's eyebrows furrowed. "Hmm?"</p><p>"We might be able to get those involved to 'come out', so to speak. It's not guaranteed, though. What if we publicize that this matter was related to the death of Jiang Ze within the affluent families, and see if anyone comes forward for protection or tries to run away?"</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I haven't written in so long, I forgot how to do it (cries)</p><p>Sorry about that guys</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0015"><h2>15. Down the River</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>"Now that you’ve eaten half the table, how would you rate the meal?”</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“We can omit certain information, of course, out of consideration for those involved. Wording and delivery is another dimension to be discussed. What do you think?”</p><p>It wasn’t a bad idea— they might be able to fish some other information <em> Xiao</em>-Jiang’s mother didn’t know, for one. Of course, it was based on the premise that anyone would talk, but it was worth a shot.</p><p>“How should we account for the possibility of there being no more targets?” Xuan Lang asked. While he spoke, a hand reached past him for a cage of dimsum. All eyes went to Fang Xiaoxiao, who blinked as if to say, <em> go on, talk without me</em>. When she caught Bai Nian’s gaze, though, she nudged the bamboo container and tilted her head. Bai Nian shook his head.</p><p>Xuan Lang, “......” Communication between a sword cultivator and his cherished disciple.</p><p>“Do you think we can… You know, the fact that the cat might be close to…” He Jiangshan said, drawing everyone’s attention back to the matter at hand. “Not like have them as hostages, but to have them try to reach out. To the <em> yao</em>.”</p><p>Shen Jing exchanged a look with Xuan Lang. Xuan Lang said, "We'll have to ask. <em> Xiao-shidi </em> can talk to them."</p><p><em> Why is my job </em> talking to people<em>? </em> But there was nothing Shen Jing could say— the conversation had moved on.</p><p>“So,” Ji Hualiu summarized, “on my side, I’ll try urging anyone who thinks they might be involved with that old matter to loudly seek our protection. The rumors of this can be spread to more people in case the <em> yao </em> is hiding in the city. If it isn’t, then when it strikes, we are more likely to be there with the possible victims. Meanwhile, <em> Da-shixiong </em> and <em> Xiao-shidi </em> can either try to talk to <em> Xiao</em>-Jiang about the habits and possible whereabouts of the yao, or if they talk with the mother, ask her to directly interact with the <em> yao </em> if possible. Otherwise, we ask her about any other details she might remember. Is there anything anyone wants to add?”</p><p>Xuan Lang nodded thoughtfully. “It won’t take long to stop by the Lower Quarters, so I’d like to take a look at the location where they found the bodies.”</p><p>“All right. I will take Jiangshan with me.”</p><p>Now that things were sorted out, Ji Hualiu finally called for someone to clear the tables. Turning to Fang Xiaoxiao, she asked, “You’re done, right? Now that you’ve eaten half the table, how would you rate the meal?”</p><p>“...Pretty good,” Fang Xiaoxiao admitted readily, unashamed of her appetite. Shen Jing admired her. He was sure that most of it went to her muscles. He was sure she would one day hit like a truck; right now, she hit like a motorcycle. “When I finally leave the peak to make my way in the world, I’m going to make sure I get my abundant share of pork dumplings, just mark my words.”</p><p>“Even if we don’t, you’ll be sure to remind us at a frequent interval,” Ji Hualiu said mildly. As Xuan Lang stood up, she did too, followed by the rest. The sun was warm as it streamed in through the open windows; the light illuminated the quiet determination on their faces, as well as Bai Nian’s watching gaze. “Should we regroup before sunset?”</p><p>“Mm.”</p><p>And with that, they dispersed. </p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>The early afternoon was a pleasant time to take a walk; though the sun was overhead, they were high enough in the mountains for the passing breeze to be wonderful gusts of natural AC. As they passed by the stalls, Fang Xiaoxiao peered at one or two of them. When Xuan Lang shot her a judging look for eyeing the snacks, she defended, “It’s for <em> Xiao</em>-Jiang!”</p><p>“Mm.”</p><p>“<em> Da-shixiong </em> doesn’t trust me?”</p><p>Xuan Lang stared straight on ahead. “I trust you. I just don’t believe you.”</p><p>Shen Jing hid a smile behind his sleeve.</p><p>In the end, she did buy haw flakes and one or two bags of seeds, because Fang Xiaoxiao wouldn’t be Fang Xiaoxiao if she was so easily swayed. What she did, though, was hand it over to Shen Jing, eyes staring straight at Xuan Lang as she did it, as if to say ‘<em>see? I can do this.</em>’ Shen Jing, caught between the two of them, backed a bit.</p><p><em> Xiao</em>-Jiang was playing alone outside when they found him, sitting under a skinny tree with bamboo toys set in front of him. He beamed when Shen Jing handed him Fang Xiaoxiao's haw flakes, happily saying, "Thank you <em> Jiejie</em>!"</p><p>Fang Xiaoxiao pinched his cheek until he almost cried.</p><p>Xuan Lang, Shen Jing, "......"</p><p>"Fourth <em> Shijie </em> is training to be a sword cultivator like <em> Shizun</em>, so she's very strong," Shen Jing explained as he gently patted teary-eyed <em> Xiao</em>-Jiang's cheek. Sitting beside him, Shen Jing could feel the lingering heat of the midday sun on the rock, sloped and flat and likely placed there by someone to sit on long ago. "She's really sorry, she just doesn't know her own strength sometimes. Here, let's open your snacks. Are you playing alone?"</p><p>Sniffling a bit, <em> Xiao</em>-Jiang rubbed his cheek several times before shaking his head. "I'm waiting for Sansan, but he's been gone… now I'm bored."</p><p>Shen Jing petted him. "Where does he usually go?"</p><p>"Umm, usually here, or our house, or by the river. But I don't wanna go to the river…"</p><p>It was a place where he saw something horrific, even if <em> Xiao</em>-Jiang's reaction now seemed lackluster. "It's better to stay here. Do the big kids pass by here? They won't bother you here, right?"</p><p><em> Xiao</em>-Jiang shook his head. “The uncle three houses down sometimes throws things at you if you’re too loud.”</p><p>Ah. Well, that was something. In the end, they bade him goodbye. After some consideration, Xuan Lang decided against interrupting <em> Xiao</em>-Jiang’s mother at her work hours, too— if her boss saw this as her slacking off, it could lead to trouble. And so they travelled the beaten path that led to the fields, taking in their surroundings as they kept an eye out for any passing tortoiseshell cats.</p><p>It was not time for harvest yet, and a good number of people were idle; some others were sitting by the rice fields, fishing in the muddy waters. The path down to the riverbank was but a dirt mound that sloped dangerously at times, but thankfully the clear weather had dried the surface— Shen Jing, though he had to tense a bit and focus on his balance sometimes, didn’t have to deal with it <em> wet </em> too. Fang Xiaoxiao had gone on ahead, moving with enviable nimbleness. Xuan Lang, on the other hand, was last, keeping an eye on him. It was all it took for Shen Jing to not slack off.</p><p>&lt;Slow down, don’t hurry.&gt;</p><p>He couldn’t, Wu-<em>jie</em>. He lived to not inconvenience.</p><p>Shen Jing could feel eyes on them, too. His brain was perceiving them on him, but logically he was sure they were looking at Fang Xiaoxiao and Xuan Lang, both of whom looked a lot more like self-assured disciples of a reputable sect. Shen Jing probably looked like a toddler they had to bring out to play. </p><p>“<em>Da-shixiong</em>!” Fang Xiaoxiao called out. Her voice carried over, drawing everyone’s attention— Shen Jing felt his stomach cramp at the thought. “Should I ask, yeah?”</p><p>“Wait until I get there,” Xuan Lang replied, a bit exasperated.</p><p>There really was a difference between Fang Xiaoxiao with and without He Jiangshan. When he was around, she had someone specific to chat with, and while she would still be one step ahead and probably walking backwards sometimes to challenge herself, the conversation took the edge off. With Xuan Lang and Shen Jing, however, talking felt about as satisfying as punching a lumpy cushion. The entire time they were walking, Fang Xiaoxiao had gone on ahead before backtracking to where they were, then diverted her attention to some potted plants or chickens wandering the streets, then tried to strike a conversation again.</p><p>It probably took aeons for Shen Jing to make his way down to the riverbanks, a trek of approximately one kilometer that gave him a minor heart attack every 300 meters or so. Fang Xiaoxiao had long since started watching a child that looked about 10 years old catch a carp with his bare hands.</p><p>“We need to borrow a boat to take us to where they found the bodies,” Xuan Lang said. A middle aged man who’d been sitting on his boat stood up and nodded aggressively.</p><p>“Was the one who took the team there,” the man bragged. “‘s an awkward place, you’ll want me.”</p><p>Feeling his heart rate quicken and his breathing stagnate at the exchange, Shen Jing tuned out their voices, focusing instead on his own thoughts. It was only when Xuan Lang nudged him forward by the shoulder that he startled back to earth, stumbling forward into the boat where Fang Xiaoxiao stood.</p><p>“I wanna learn how to row boats someday,” she chattered along as Xuan Lang got in and the man pushed away from the banks. “Do you think they’ll have a class on that, <em> Da-shixiong</em>?”</p><p>“Ask your <em> shijie</em>,” he answered simply.</p><p>Maybe it was because there were a lot of people on the banks, working on the fields, or maybe because another person was on the boat, but they passed by this section of the river in silence. Fang Xiaoxiao stopped talking. She busied herself by staring at the waters, leaning over the side with her hand outstretched, as though she wanted to stick it in. Given how dirty it looked, Shen Jing was certain it would give her three different kinds of worms and parasites— could those things enter through the gap between the nail and the nailbed?</p><p>“Fourth <em> Shijie</em>…” Now he couldn’t stop thinking about it.</p><p>&lt;I’m not sure I want to look it up for you because it’s bigtime gross, but don’t they usually enter the body through other means?&gt;</p><p>Shen Jing: But do you want to take the chance?</p><p>&lt;I’m not the one taking the chance. You tell that to your fourth <em> shijie</em>, duh.&gt;</p><p>Going downstream was a quick affair; it wasn’t half an hour when they left the winding section lined with fields, leaving behind the crops waving in the wind and the people going about their days. As they left the blurry edges of civilization, the clusters of trees thickened, and soon the foliages wove canopies over the water, casting shadows meters into the waterline. The sound of trickling water and insects prevailed now, accentuated with the occasional rustles or birds flying overhead. Shen Jing sat watching his surroundings, transfixed.</p><p>"Hey, I didn't know this river branched quite like this!"</p><p>He startled back to awareness. Indeed, ahead of them was a split in the river, and one was almost a 90 degrees angle, spanning only four or five meters across. The bigger branch had tapered from the easily 30 meters stretch to only about 20, but the waters seemed stronger there, its surface disturbed. The boatman maneuvered the boat with practiced ease and in they went to the heart of the forest. Shen Jing could feel it closing in on him, almost claustrophobic.</p><p>For the first time in this entire ride, the boatman spoke up. “I can’t go too far down. But just so you know, there used to be a real small village around here, way back then. They constructed a small dam here, since the waters here go pretty far down, though it’s now mostly in shambles. Still enough to, eh, stop, you know. Human bodies from moving further down. That’s where they found ‘em. Stuck there. The stench is probably still gonna be there. Just letting you know.”</p><p>“Thanks,” Fang Xiaoxiao said, nodding.</p><p>"That all the found bodies were in this stream… It was arranged," Xuan Lang murmured, deep in thought. Shen Jing turned to look at him. Xuan Lang didn’t elaborate, though, and they went silent. Finally, the boat stopped, and the three of them hopped off.</p><p>“It’s not that long of a walk, but mind your steps. Some parts got brambles on the road,” the boatman called out. As he nodded, Xuan Lang handed him a silver piece and the three of them walked further into the forest.</p><p>"Hey, <em> Da-shixiong</em>. Earlier, what were you muttering?" Fang Xiaoxiao asked once they were out of earshot. It felt like it wasn’t that far at all— Shen Jing kept getting distracted by the buzzing of insects and flies that kept flying past him. They were treading a barely-there footpath right at the edge of the banks; between the insects and the possibility of tripping on a root and braining himself on a rock in the stream, Shen Jing was frankly feeling a bit overwhelmed.</p><p>Life felt like an overly slippery terrain today, and wow, what an apt analogy for his daily existence.</p><p>"How many victims are there so far, how many of them are found, and how many of them are found here?" Xuan Lang said, glancing at her. Shen Jing forced himself to refocus on the matter at hand. It was a blessing nobody could hear his wandering thoughts, not even Assistant 51C. "The river is wider on the other branch. If this was something natural, it's more likely that more of the bodies would be carried to the bigger stream. The angle of the entrance to this one was also awkward. By chance alone, do you—"</p><p>"Yeah, I get it… They must've been steered to enter this one. To hide the bodies? Or to make it more likely to be found?"</p><p>Xuan Lang sighed. "Let me finish my sentences."</p><p>"Sorry!"</p><p>“<em>Xiao</em>-Ze fell into the river and drowned. He was found in the river deep in the woods, because of some strange activities there,” Xuan Lang recounted. “Would you bet that the <em> yao </em> is what caused, or enabled that?”</p><p>“It’s big enough to drag a human adult, it’s probably capable of following them here and making sure they get to this stream, sure,” Fang Xiaoxiao said, nodding. “Cat <em> yao </em>s… A good chunk of them can grow in size like fox ones, right? Dragging something here doesn’t need to be a perfect steer, so long as you can reel them in and keep them closer to the banks every now and then.”</p><p>Shen Jing stopped in his steps, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. After a moment, he resumed walking.</p><p>The adults who were this case’s victims were not blameless, but this was also about an innocent child who drowned…</p><p>Their destination was in sight, though. Mere meters ahead, a broken, mossy dam sat in the stream, water humming like a chime as it trickled over it.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>orry this was late! Real life stuff. I folded like 150 dumplings yesterday! No, the dumplings are not related to the fact that it was new year's.</p><p>Speaking of new yearses, happy new year from the future! Well, it's still 2 hours til then for me, but see you in 2021 anyhow!</p>
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<a name="section0016"><h2>16. Grave</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>"This all happened because nobody noticed, didn't it?"</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Leading up to the broken dam was a swell in the stream, forming a small pond that encroached about one, two meters into the sides. It was quite clear, most of the sediment having sunk to the bottom, with fish swimming and lingering within. On one side, there were slopes that tracked up to the banks— though it was softened by nature, it seemed like those were where people dragged the bodies out of the water.</p>
<p>Shen Jing had expected the stench of death. Still, it hit like a truck— the bodies had been removed from the site, but it had only been a day and the smell still lingered, the sickeningly sweet undertone making everything even more nauseating. Fang Xiaoxiao, leading ahead, immediately turned tail. Expression like she was about to retch, she bounded over to Xuan Lang, passing by him to head right into the deeper woods behind and spit behind a tree.</p>
<p>“<em>Da-shixiong</em>…” she whined, before then vomiting.</p>
<p>“It’s disgusting, isn’t it?” Xuan Lang said calmly. “Death and cases like these are nothing to take lightly. Go drink some water and rinse your mouth.”</p>
<p>Shen Jing managed somewhat better. As soon as he smelled it, he rummaged through his things and pulled out a handkerchief, folding it several times before holding it over his nose. In his ears, Assistant 51C was asking if he wanted help with it. When he began to tremble from holding back, she added a gentle scent to the handkerchief and made it filter the smell out better.</p>
<p>“Here,” Xuan Lang said. When Shen Jing turned around, he saw that Xuan Lang had a handkerchief to his face, too, and that Fang Xiaoxiao now had one. In his outstretched hand was a small bottle of something. “Add it to your handkerchief. It helps a lot more.”</p>
<p>It really did, in ways that probably wasn’t natural in the real world. Shen Jing wasn’t about to question it. Now that everyone had a better grasp on the reality of the situation, they walked in more solemn steps to the dam, looking around as they did so.</p>
<p>Navigating the thin strip of land by the imposing trees without plopping right into the water was tricky, but Shen Jing managed. Past the dam, he could see the trickling water rejoining a calmer, thinner stream about 20 centimeter lower. Finger-sized silver fish bit the water’s surface with their tiny round mouths, making popping sounds reminiscent of raindrops on a puddle. Fang Xiaoxiao had used the dam to spring to the other end, while Xuan Lang squatted by the pond and studied its bottom. Though it was clearer, it was only in comparison to the main river— the movement of the water and the quick turns of the fish every now and then kicked up the sand at the bottom, turning the pond a pale, milky brown hue.</p>
<p>Shen Jing stuck a branch into the water. The fish dispersed, wary of the sudden intruder, but soon stopped caring.</p>
<p>“There’s a lot of fish here,” Fang Xiaoxiao commented.</p>
<p>After some time, Xuan Lang stood up and walked around, inspecting the grounds around the dam. Shen Jing frankly didn’t know what to do himself, so he checked back with Assistant 51C.</p>
<p>“Wu-<em>jie</em>, how are things? How is it going with the others?”</p>
<p>&lt;Ji Hualiu is at work convincing the folks over there. Turns out He Jiangshan’s pretty good at making shit up. Wanna see?&gt;</p>
<p>“A bit…”</p>
<p>It seemed to have been done for his own enjoyment, but Assistant 51C even set it up in a widescreen ratio, as if this was a movie. The camera didn’t move around, thank goodness, but Shen Jing could see clearly the fancy decorations in the room, the carving on the table— all in high fidelity, with only the angle and proportions reminding him that this wasn’t, in fact, something right in front of him. On one side of the table was a middle aged man and an old woman, and on the other were Ji Hualiu, He Jiangshan and Bai Nian. Bai Nian, of course, was there to cross his arms and intimidate through presence.</p>
<p>“There’s clearly a pattern in the people they’re targeting <em> ba</em>, and they’re vicious about it,” He Jiangshan said, hands waving in unclear articulation. “Branches the size of thighs are being broken under this <em> yao</em>’s feet, and it’s leaving blood of its victims on trees where they murdered them. Why do you think kids aren’t playing there anymore? Because the place they play at and where the murder happens are one and the same, the fact that none of them got hurt— seriously, they have one target and one target only. Right now, in its current disguise, tracking it down is like trying to find one specific rat in an entire town.”</p>
<p>“Our Mount Song Sect tries to be the best it can be for our supporting towns, but we are also not of infinite manpower,” Ji Hualiu said. Her voice was even and slow, switching the atmosphere from He Jiangshan’s vivid and hurried persuasion to calm, logical appeal. “It’s in everyone’s best interests that everyone meeting the criteria likely to be targeted stay where we can protect them.”</p>
<p>“Wouldn’t it mean everyone it would target would be gathered in one place, making it more likely to be attacked?” the middle-aged man said. His voice carried a hint of coldness in it.</p>
<p>He Jiangshan couldn’t quite curb the baffled expression that set in at that, though he smothered it as quickly as he could. “I mean… The biggest difference between the two scenario is, one of them, you wouldn’t even know if they’ll strike or not, with a much bigger chance of not getting help in time if you’re the unlucky person drawing the shortest lot. I guess it’s a gamble… If you’re into that?”</p>
<p>“Nobody is forcing anyone to follow our requests, of course,” Ji Hualiu cut in, trying to smoothen the jagged edges of He Jiangshan’s words. “That is all we’d like to say. If you’ll excuse us.”</p>
<p>Shen Jing turned away from the view, returning to reality. Wondering, he said, “Do you think that pissed off the middle-aged man? Who is he, anyway?”</p>
<p>&lt;He’s just some guy. Not part of the bullies, he was a couple years older than them and didn’t hang out with those kids. On the backend, looks like the world-builder made him cousins with one of the victims, though.&gt;</p>
<p>“Huh… The world generator takes a lot of creative liberties.” With an inhale, Shen Jing stood up and started to look around, too. Xuan Lang was on the other side of the river now, and through natural developments seemed to have switched roles with Fang Xiaoxiao, who was tracing the waters further downstream. After some time, Xuan Lang seemed to notice Shen Jing’s gaze and beckoned him over.</p>
<p>“Errm…” Shen Jing eyed the dam the other two had used to spring to the other end hesitantly. When Xuan Lang moved though, as if coming over, he hurried to jump— no, he wasn’t going to disappoint <em> da-shixiong </em> even more by not having the courage to step on some slippery stones. Shen Jing almost botched his landing, but it was fine, it just took him several more steps to stabilize— and his head bumped against someone’s torso. “I, I… sorry?”</p>
<p>“Be careful,” Xuan Lang said as he helped Shen Jing up. “Help me find something.”</p>
<p>Shen Jing blinked. “Like… Ah, like if there’s a tomb somewhere?”</p>
<p>Xuan Lang’s eyes were appraising now. “How’d you come to that conclusion?”</p>
<p>“Uh, I mean… if the <em> yao </em> cares enough about <em> Xiao</em>-Ze to do all this, it’s unlikely that it’s going to let him suffer in the afterlife, too…” Already at the margins of society, died so young under hidden circumstances in an unknown location, how much would he be remembered as days passed? Someone had to remember him. Shen Jing knew that the <em> yao </em> was the one to keep that vigil.</p>
<p>After all, over a decade after the incident, the <em> yao </em>was directing everyone once again to this spot. There must be something valuable about it.</p>
<p>Xuan Lang nodded, and so they went and started their search. Fang Xiaoxiao was already deep into the forest now, half-hidden behind the trees as she followed the gentle curve of the river. On the forest ground were normal things, like rotting, mushy fruits, sticks and fallen branches, small pebbles… As Xuan Lang bent over to look at those, Shen Jing turned to where the trees were, looking for a reasonably-sized rock.</p>
<p>It didn’t take that long. Not too far from where Xuan Lang was standing was one in an odd position, as if it had tripped over the tree root it leaned against.</p>
<p>“<em>Da-shixiong </em>… it’s here.” Kneeling by the uneven, rectangular stone, Shen Jing heaved it until it flipped over. On one end was a dullness coming from long-term contact with dirt, while the rest seemed to have a bit more color to it; all of this was subtle, though, and the only thing that cemented this as a tombstone was the fact that a name was carved into it. The writing was rough, with uneven edges and too-deep engraving, but it was more or less readable.</p>
<p>“Mm,” Xuan Lang agreed. He tucked away his handkerchief, taking the smell of rot remarkably well, and lifted the tombstone and placed it back on the dirt clearing. The dull, scraping sound was all that Shen Jing could hear for a while. When he put it down with a hefty thud, it reverberated into Shen Jing’s chest. It felt like the stone had a weight far beyond its physical one, leaving the atmosphere solemn under its influence.</p>
<p>“Who’s there?” Fang Xiaoxiao’s voice rang clear, making Xuan Lang and Shen Jing tense and turn to her direction. Her eyes were fixed on something up in the trees, and her hand was already on the hilt of her wooden sword. The forest had gone silent. Only insects and flies dared to buzz, now, uncaring of the matter of predator and prey. “Don’t try to deceive me. I saw you.”</p>
<p>Silence.</p>
<p>After a while, though it was hard to pin it concretely, the atmosphere relaxed. Birds started chirping again, and the leaves rustled with activity; it seemed that whatever was there watching them had left. Xuan Lang said to Fang Xiaoxiao, “Good instinct.”</p>
<p>Eyebrows still furrowed, she nodded back. “What’s that, <em> Da-shixiong</em>?”</p>
<p>“The grave erected for <em> Xiao</em>-Ze,” he said. Setting the stone up straighter, he brushed the dirt clear and made sure it wouldn’t topple over. Shen Jing went to the water and grabbed some cupfuls to wash the stone off, rubbing its surface with his thumb. “It seemed to have been shoved aside when the people from the town found the bodies and were trying to fish it out. Offerings of fruits, not even on a plate, it probably just looked like some had fallen from a nearby tree. They probably didn’t notice.”</p>
<p>Suddenly, Shen Jing’s chest hurt. Behind his handkerchief, his mouth was twisted into a pained frown, and his eyes reddened. Fang Xiaoxiao noticed the changes and shot him a confused look; Xuan Lang looked up too when he saw her confusion. It only made Shen Jing more upset.</p>
<p>“What’s wrong, <em> Xiao-shidi</em>?” she asked. “It’s okay, we’ll make the townsfolk at least make up for what they’ve done…”</p>
<p>"This all happened because nobody noticed, didn't it?" Shaking his head, Shen Jing rubbed his eyes with the back of his damp hand. This was really making him look like he was crying— he was not. "Nobody noticed something was wrong, nobody noticed a child falling into a river, nobody even noticed what they knocked over. They..."</p>
<p>Fang Xiaoxiao rubbed his back. "Shhh…"</p>
<p>That was the crux of it all along. <em> Xiao</em>-Ze, the injustices he met in his short life, everything that happened wouldn't have come to such a bloody end if someone, anyone cared enough. His body <em> was </em> found, no doubt thanks to the <em> yao</em>, but nobody cared to look into it further. Shen Jing could almost taste the reasoning they used to wave it off. <em> He probably drowned after slipping into the waters while playing. Poor kid. </em>It tasted as vile as the smell of decomposition permeating this rotten place.</p>
<p>Here was a truth about the world that he understood, loathe as he was to know: people only cared about broad concepts of violence against the helpless. The victims were just numbers. In the end, they would always, like they had always been, be neglected for the sake of the status quo. Those actively hurting these abandoned sort were the ones swinging down the hammer, but it was those who watched and carried on with their lives that held the nail in place.</p>
<p>His torso felt like it had stretched taut to contain the grief of such an apathetic world.</p>
<p>A sigh. Then, a large, warm hand ruffled his hair.</p>
<p>"You and Xiaoxiao should go back. I'll stay here for a while longer."</p>
<p>Fang Xiaoxiao nodded and started guiding him back. "Once we're done with this, we can bring <em> Xiao</em>-Ze some nicer offerings, okay? Let's buy some cakes and come back. It's okay, don't cry."</p>
<p>Shen Jing rubbed his eyes harder. "I'm not crying…"</p>
<p>"Then look at the road <em> ba</em>, don't trip…"</p>
<p>As their voices faded with distance, Xuan Lang’s eyes turned to the spot Fang Xiaoxiao was staring at when she called out to the one watching them. He couldn’t see it, but he could feel it: a glint in the dark, lying in wait, as it had been for years on end.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I wanted to get this back up on the supposed-usual wednesdays but I do not actually control the 2 braincells I have that tells me if I'm hungry and if there is food nearby.</p>
<p>pls lemme know if anything's off by the by; I was having some gdocs problems while writing this and might've missed some repeated passages</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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